Richard Johnson, the champion jockey over jumps for the last four seasons, was said to be “very positive” on Tuesday evening that he will be back in the saddle in time to ride at the Cheltenham Festival in March, despite suffering a broken right arm when he was unseated from Westend Story in a novice chase at Exeter earlier in the day.
Johnson sustained his injury seven weeks to the day before the opening afternoon of the 2020 Festival on 10 March, while the Professional Jockeys’ Association lists the average recovery time from a broken arm as 62 days.
However, trainer Philip Hobbs, who retains Johnson as his stable jockey, said that the rider hopes to return to action in “a month or so”. “He has broken his right arm in between the elbow and the hand,” Hobbs said. “He is going to have an operation on it, to have it plated either today or tomorrow. He expects to be off for a month or so. He sounded very positive about Cheltenham.”
Despite Johnson’s confidence, he is clearly in a race against time to be fully fit for National Hunt’s showpiece event. His absence also seems likely to hand an insurmountable lead to Brian Hughes in the race for the jump jockeys’ championship, in which the north’s leading jockey currently holds a 114-111 advantage.
Westend Story was an 11-8 favourite to edge Johnson within two winners of Hughes in the championship race in a novice handicap chase, but the gelding made a bad mistake at the sixth fence and gave his rider little chance to stay in the saddle. Johnson’s injury, however, appeared to be sustained when his arm was kicked by Fox Pro shortly after he hit the ground.
Johnson was clearly in pain afterwards and spent at least a minute on the ground before being helped to his feet by medical staff. He was then taken to Exeter general hospital for further examination, where the initial suspicions that he had broken his arm were confirmed a few hours later.
Johnson’s possible rides at the Festival include Thyme Hill, currently the 5-1 ante-post favourite for the Albert Bartlett Novice Hurdle following his win in the Grade One Challow Hurdle at Newbury in December. He is also the regular rider of Native River, the 2018 Gold Cup winner, who is quoted at around 14-1 to regain the chasing championship in March.
Johnson has dominated the National Hunt championship in the four full seasons since Tony McCoy’s retirement in April 2015, taking the title with more than 100 winners to spare over Aidan Coleman in 2015-16 and by 45, 34 and then 22 winners in the next three campaigns.
This season, though, Hughes has kept pace with the champion through the first eight months of the race. The pair were tied on 62 winners each at the end of September and while it was 103-101 in Johnson’s favour at the end of December, a 13-winner haul so far in 2020 had taken his rival into a narrow lead.
Sam Twiston-Davies (on 86 winners) and Harry Skelton (81) are next in the list, and both would need to raise their strike-rate dramatically to offer any threat to Hughes, assuming that he avoids injury in the last three months of the season. All major firms suspended betting on the title race as news of Johnson’s injury emerged, but when – or if – it reopens, Hughes will be an overwhelming favourite to become only the third first-time winner of the National Hunt championship since McCoy took the first of his 20 consecutive titles in 1996.
Lingfield 12.40 Kraka 1.10 Shamameya 1.45 Dark Silver 2.20 Padleyourowncanoe 2.50 Victory Bond 3.25 Tolmount 3.55 Roundabout Magic
Warwick 1.00 Blacko 1.35 It's Probably Me 2.10 From The Heart 2.40 Terrierman 3.15 Bob And Co 3.45 Made For You 4.15 Main Fact
Catterick 1.20 Evander 1.55 Ask Paddy 2.30 Schiehallion Munro (nap) 3.00 Minella Trump 3.35 Silver Tassie 4.05 Miss Amelia
Kempton 4.30 Atalanta Queen 5.00 Ispahan 5.30 Stormy Mountain
6.00 Morrooj 6.30 Shine On Brendan 7.00 Brigham Young (nb) 7.30 Pentimento 8.00 Full Intention
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