Clifford Lee edging closer to comeback

Karl Burke is optimistic Clifford Lee will be back in the saddle soon, with the stable’s leading rider edging closer to a return from injury after a motorbike accident.

Lee enjoyed a breakthrough season in 2025, highlighted by a first Group One success aboard Venetian Sun in the Prix Morny as well as several other big-race wins through the likes of Royal Champion, Al Qareem and Convergent.

While serving a suspension after winning on his last four rides, he fell when riding a cross-country motorbike during a short break in Scotland in October, leading to him suffering a serious neck injury which left him in intensive care.

Burke said: “He’s coming along well. He’s been at Jack Berry House for three weeks now, maybe more.

“Before I went out to the Middle East last week he was really bullish. I think he’s just got to have a second opinion on his neck before they let him start riding out again, which I think is frustrating him a little bit, because he says he feels great – he says he feels as fit as he ever has.

“I was hoping he’d be riding out now, but they’re just putting the handbrake on that until he gets this second opinion.

“I’m sure it’s a tough one for him to swallow, watching those horses like Royal Champion winning in Saudi Arabia last week, thinking he’d have been riding them.

“There’s lots of horses for him to look forward to and the main thing is he comes back when he’s 100 per cent.

“I’m sure he’ll be back sooner rather than later.”