Ruby Walsh recovering well after surgery

Jockey Ruby Walsh is reported in good spirits after having undergone surgery on a broken arm on Friday.

Walsh will be sidelined for at least two months after he took a crashing fall on the final day of the Cheltenham Festival.

The rider sustained a compound fracture of his right humerus, the bone in the upper arm, after parting company with Abbyssial in the JCB Triumph Hurdle.

Dr Adrian McGoldrick, Irish Turf Club senior medical officer, said: “Ruby is good, relatively speaking, of course. The operation went well, which is good news.”

Walsh’s sights are already fixed upon a return to action.

He said: “I knew the minute I hit the deck I was in serious trouble and it was no surprise that I had done plenty of damage. What it actually amounts to is a dislocated shoulder and fracturing the humerus in my right arm. I was soon taken to hospital in Gloucester and obviously will face a spell on the sidelines.

“That’s the way this game goes. I had gone a good while without injury and now have to accept my fate and make the best of it. I am far from disheartened, however, and have no doubt I will dust myself down and go again in the not too distant future.”

Walsh still had a fine Festival, with victories aboard Faugheen (Neptune), Vautour (Supreme) and Quevega, who claimed a record-breaking sixth consecutive triumph in the Mares’ Hurdle.

Tony McCoy could take a short break from the saddle after giving up his rides at Kempton today.

The champion jockey rode through the pain barrier at Cheltenham after being brought down on Goodwood Mirage on the opening day in the Fred Winter.

McCoy stated after winning the JLT Novices’ Chase on Taquin Du Seuil the following day that he very nearly never took the mount as he was in so much pain. A closing race fall on Friday in the Grand Annual from Mr Mole did not help matters.

Jonjo O’Neill, who provides the majority of McCoy’s rides, said: “He’s just battered and bruised. He wants to take a couple of weeks off, that’s what he should do, not a couple of days.”