Injury rules Splaine out of Hickstead

Robert Splaine, the Cork showjumper due to compete in the Hickstead Derby meeting which begins today, has been forced to pull out after breaking his back in a fall last week.

Splaine "burst" the fifth vertebra in his lumbar spine when a horse reared up and came over on top of him last week. He is recuperating in Cork University hospital, where he expects to be flat on his back for the next month.

"I'm very lucky," he said from his hospital bed yesterday. "I've got full mobility and it's just a matter of time, but I'm not going to rush myself back. I'm probably committed to taking it easy for the rest of this year and will come back again next year."

This is the second successive Hickstead Derby meeting that Splaine has missed. He was a late withdrawal last year after being kicked by a horse at the RDS but, ironically, the Sussex venue has always been a happy hunting ground for him, with numerous big wins to his credit.

The Derby, sponsored this year by Peugeot, has always eluded Splaine, however, and he is particularly frustrated to miss this weekend's feature event at Hickstead as Ballymoss, the horse he rides for the Duchess of York, was tuned and ready for a crack at the big one.

The horse-trials world has also been hit by injury, with former European champion Lucy Thompson sidelined after a heavy fall at Gatcombe over the weekend. Thompson and her gold medal ride Welton Romance tipped up at a road crossing, with the mare landing on her rider.

Thompson has been suffering severe nerve pain in her back since the fall on Saturday morning, but X-rays yesterday revealed no broken bones, although both the sacro-iliac joint and a lower vertebra had been dislocated. Both have now been put back into position and she is currently exploring alternative therapies, particularly acupuncture.

She will definitely miss the final selection trial at Scarvagh House in Co. Down at the end of the month, and is also doubtful for the big three-day event at Burghley. She is, however, hoping to be back to fitness in time for the World Equestrian Games at the beginning of October.