Jockey Joe Tizzard returned to the saddle on Monday after nine months out with serious spinal injuries.

Tizzard was unplaced on Lady Turk in a hurdle race at Fontwell, the only meeting to survive the weather.

The 23 year old fractured and dislocated two vertebrae in a career-threatening fall at Hereford last March, just days after riding See More Business to third place in the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Despite his time out of action, Tizzard was confident that he would soon be rid of any race rustiness and would be performing at peak fitness.

"I've been doing lots of schooling and have been out hunting three or four times so I've been doing plenty of jumping," said Tizzard, who is attached to Paul Nicholls' stable.

"I haven't needed any physio but I've been doing a lot of exercise to build up the back muscles, which I lost, and plenty of work in the gym.

"I had two pins in my back for six months and they supported my back so the muscles didn't have to work.

"The muscles wasted away and I've built them back up," said Tizzard who set a record for a champion conditional jockey when riding 91 winners in a season four years ago.