Barry Geraghty appears certain to miss the Grand National after breaking a shinbone in a fall at Downpatrick on Sunday. The jockey’s injury is not thought to be sufficiently serious to require surgery but is likely to keep him on the sidelines for at least a month.
“He’s got a hairline fracture of his left tibia,” said Dr Adrian McGoldrick, the Turf Club’s senior medical officer, on Sunday night. “He’s been told it won’t need surgery and the leg has been set in plaster of paris.
“He’ll be assessed on Tuesday and we’ll know more then. It’s hard to be sure but I’d say he’ll be out of action for four to eight weeks anyway.”
With the Grand National on 11 April now less than three weeks away, Geraghty’s chance of taking part in the famous race appears to have gone. He could have ridden Hadrian’s Approach for his regular employer Nicky Henderson or possibly The Druids Nephew, a winner under him at the recent Cheltenham Festival.
Geraghty suffered his injury in a hurdles race when Sailors Warn fell at the second-last while still in contention. It was the first fall of the eight-year-old’s racing career.
Geraghty will also miss the Irish Grand National on 6 April, a race he won last year on Shutthefrontdoor. He will be hoping to be back in action at least by the time of the Punchestown Festival at the end of April.
His is the second high-profile injury to an Irish jump jockey this weekend, Davy Russell having broken a bone in his arm on Saturday. Russell hopes to return in time for Punchestown.
