MICHAEL Dods has confirmed his star sprinter Mecca's Angel has been retired following her run on Champions Day at Ascot last Saturday.

Winner of York's Nunthorpe Stakes for the last two years, the five-year-old mare was unable to end her racing career on a high.

Mecca's Angel ran below par in the Qipco British Champions Sprint, won by The Tin Man. Dods felt she was probably feeling the effects of her gallant effort in the Prix de l'Abbaye just 13 days earlier, when she was a close third to Marsha, and that her high draw proved to be a big disadvantage.

"The race probably came too quick after the Abbaye. She's always better with a long gap in between," said Dods.

"It also seemed that anything that raced near the stands side was greatly inconvenienced compared to the far side. There was a massive draw bias.

"She's come home fine and she'll be retired now."

The Darlington handler paid tribute to the horse, owned by David Metcalfe, that helped put him on the racing map.

"You dream of having horses like her. She's won two Group Ones, other Group and Listed races," he said.

"She's campaigned in all the top sprints. She now deserves to go out to stud.

"She's been a delight. She's given us a lot of fun and taken us to all the big meetings."

The daughter of Dark Angel won 10 of her 20 starts, including six at Group and Listed level, amassing nearly £680,000 in total prize money in the process.

Dods' near neighbour Alan Swinbank may well be a trainer to follow over the coming weeks as his horses are starting to hit a bit of form and that was advertised on Wednesday afternoon by Lavetta, who landed a valuable handicap at Newmarket under Joe Fanning.

Afterwards, the delighted winning rider said: "Alan filled me with confidence beforehand and once I saw how well she looked in the paddock and moved on the way to the start, I knew she would take some beating. I'd be surprised if she doesn't continue to progress."

Middleham jockey Henry Brooke aims to be back in the saddle in four to five weeks' time after he was released from hospital following a horror fall at Hexham nearly a fortnight ago.

Brooke has made remarkable progress in such a short space of time after he was placed in an induced coma following his fall from the Brian Ellison-trained Old Storm at the second fence of a two-and-a-half-mile handicap chase.

The 25-year-old was also kicked by another horse when he hit the ground, with racing delayed for almost two hours while he was treated by on-course medical staff before he could be taken to the Royal Victoria Infirmary, in Newcastle.

His injuries included eight broken ribs, a collapsed lung and shoulder damage.

"I'm a lot better now. I've been to Jack Berry House this morning. They are pleased with my progress," he said.

"There's not much more the hospital can do now and I'm so grateful for everybody's help. It was such a massive job.

"I'm hoping to be back racing in four to five weeks. It might be a tough shout, but I think it's doable as long as I do everything I'm meant to do.

"I've got to drink three litres of water a day. That's a lot, but it's little things like that I have to do. I wouldn't drink a litre a day normally.

"I have to eat little and often and try to get my appetite back, even though I'm not hungry.

"I got on the scales on Monday morning and I weighed 9st 2lb. I've lost a whole stone in weight. That's a lot of weight.

"I'll have this week at home now before I go back to Jack Berry House for more treatment next week. I need to have some rest first and my ribs are quite sore.

"I've got a lot of nice horses to ride this year and a lot of good trainers to ride for. I want to come back when I know I can do them justice."

Brooke's determination is amazing and we can only wish him well on his recovery.