Signed silks help retired jockey Nori Yamada to Take heart SURPRISE GIFT: Nori Yamada with the signed silks from his riding idol Yutaka Take. POPULAR jockey Nori Yamada has had a tough time during the past 10 months but he had a reason to smile at last Saturday's Weetwood meeting when he was presented with jodhpurs signed by his idol Yutaka Take. Yamada, regarded as the hardest-working jockey on the Darling Downs, enjoyed a career high when he won the 2012 Weetwood on Miss Imagica. His riding career came to a crushing end a few months later when he suffered serious back injuries in a fall at Toowoomba. He had already had a close shave with a neck injury from a 2009 fall and doctors told Yamada he had no option but to retire. Instead of partnering Miss Imagica to a repeat Weetwood success last Saturday, Yamada was doing his bit as a part-time barrier attendant at the meeting. Good friend Greg Blanchard, who along with BRC chief executive Stephen Ferguson organised for the memorabilia from Japanese riding legend Take, said Yamada was keen to be associated with the industry. "He's a terrific little fellow with a young family and this was a boost he really needed," Blanchard said. He's been doing it a bit tough since he retired and we were able to keep this a secret for about six months.