American riding legend Gary Stevens, who shocked the racing world by announcing his retirement on December 26, announced on Friday that he was currently undergoing rehabilitation treatment on his arthritic right knee in a bid to return to the saddle.
The 36-year-old, whose last big race success was guiding Anees to victory in the Breeders Cup Juvenile last November, admitted that retirement had not been easy for him.
'I'm in rehabilitation for my knee, in the hope that I can make a return to race riding,' he told The Racing Channel on Thursday.
Stevens, who enjoyed a successful spell as stable jockey to leading English trainer Sir Michael Stoute last summer, was forced to quit the saddle due to degenerative arthritis in his right knee.
The American, who was among the top 10 jockeys in the United States every year since 1985 up till his departure to England last year, has been undecided over his future since he quit and is still unsure what lies ahead of him, but serving as a jockey's agent is not in his immediate plans.
'I announced earlier in the week that I was going to become a jockey's agent, but that did not last very long,' Stevens said.
'It seems like it changes every day.
'I've had a difficult time handling the retirement. I've been used to doing the same thing for 21 years, and to have it come to a halt has been a shock to my system and difficult for me to handle.'
Stevens said he had spoken with Richard Mulhall, manager of Prince Ahmed bin Salman's Thoroughbred Corporation, with whom he had a lucrative five-year riding contract, and was hoping to act as a manager for the operation.
He said those plans are still in place, adding: 'They want me to continue my relationship with them and become an assistant to Alex Hassinger.'
In his career Stevens, who partnered his first winner in May 1979, enjoyed 4,512 successes for earnings of around 187 million dollars and proved his ability on nearly every continent by taking the 1991 Japan Cup aboard Golden Pheasant and the 1998 Dubai World Cup on Silver Charm.
