French jockey Olivier Placais told himself he should stay away from his laptop during his period of convalescence back in Switzerland and France.

But between scoffing a raclette and a baguette, the temptation to take a peek at the latest happenings at Kranji proved too hard to resist in the end.

“I didn’t want to check the results while I was away. But I did in the end, and I would say I lost four or five winners,” said Placais.

Olivier Placais at his last Kranji win aboard Only Win before he flew off to recuperate, picture Singapore Turf Club

“The obvious one was Gran Torino. Craig (Grylls) replaced me and rode him a treat and he won easy.

“It was my loss and his gain. I’m back now and I am looking forward to getting back on Gran Torino.”

Placais was aboard at James Peters-trained Bel Esprit four-year-old’s first four local starts for two wins and one second.

The 33-year-old jockey makes his Kranji riding comeback this Friday after three weeks on the sidelines through a chest injury sustained in a race-fall from Ottawa shortly after the start on January 21. He has picked up seven rides, in the last seven races on the nine-race programme – Justice Day, Basilisk, Special Rain, Muscular Captain, Mighty Conqueror, Robin Hood and Black Magic.

Placais actually kept riding through the pain after the fall, even scoring two wins (Petite Victoire and Only Win) at the next two meetings, but more in-depth scans later revealed he had a hairline fracture to his sternum.

“I flew back home to recover. During the first two weeks, the pain was still around but it’s improved a lot in the last week, and I don’t feel any more pain now,” said Placais who has dropped to 10th place (on four winners) during the enforced holiday.

“My weight had shot up to 57 ½ kilos just before I flew back to Singapore (Sunday). I’ve not been eating much since and I am close to my riding weight now.

“The lightest I will ride at tomorrow is 53.5kgs on Mighty Conqueror. I should be right, I will just sweat it out by wearing several layers, but it will take me at least one meeting to get back to my peak fitness level.

“It’s a bit unfortunate I had my momentum interrupted in January. My morale was down, but there was nothing I could do.

“I’m glad to be back. I was back riding trackwork on Monday and I’ve been riding for the same trainers as before, mainly Alwin Tan, James Peters, Daniel Meagher, Leticia Dragon and David Hill.”

One of the horses he rode in Thursday’s barrier trials was the very same horse who sent him hitting the deck, Ottawa.

“I don’t blame him of course. It was an unfortunate accident, but he certainly has no idea I was the one on top!” Placais joked.

“I was actually more concerned about him when I fell off. But luckily, he came out of it without a scratch.

“I get along well with this horse. Today, he was