The fall in which leading jockeys Kerrin McEvoy and Glyn Schofield were injured has been deemed accidental.
Both riders have been sidelined since the fall in the Group One Sydney Cup (3200m) on April 23.
McEvoy and Schofield attended a stewards’ inquiry at Canterbury on Wednesday to give their evidence regarding the incident where McEvoy’s mount Tinseltown fell near the 700m mark of the Group One staying feature.
Hawk Island, ridden by Schofield, was unable to avoid the stricken horse and also came down.
McEvoy, who broke two ribs in the fall, is preparing to return to trackwork this Saturday while Schofield will resume race riding on Saturday at Rosehill after recovering from a broken collar bone.
Stewards heard McEvoy and Schofield’s submissions after the pair watched the video of the fall before concluding their inquiry.
They had already taken evidence from Brenton Avdulla (Bid Spotter), Glen Boss (Older Than Time), Nash Rawiller (Once Were Wild), Michael Rodd (C’Est La Guerre) and Darren Gauci (Muir) on race day.
Chief Steward Ray Murrihy concluded the incident occurred due to Bid Spotter weakening back towards Tinseltown and shifting out slightly, and also Muir tiring quickly through the field and leaving Schofield in a position where he was unable to avoid coming down with Tinseltown.
“We don’t believe there was any culpable riding on the part of any of the riders involved in the incident,” Murrihy said.
“It’s really a combination of tiring horses and two horses that had running left in them.”
McEvoy, meanwhile, has been hitting the pool in recent days as he builds up towards a return to the saddle.
“I’m seeing the doctor this afternoon and hopefully I’ll get a clearance to ride trackwork on Saturday morning,” McEvoy said.
“I’ve been in the pool the last couple of days giving it a hitout. I’ll have a week of trackwork and then I’m hoping to ride down here in Sydney the following Saturday (May 28).”
Darley’s number one rider has won all four Group One races for two-year-olds in Australia so so far this season and needs just the TJ Smith Stakes (1600m) in Brisbane next month to make it a clean sweep.
The Peter Snowden-trained Benfica, a brilliant winner in Brisbane last weekend, has his next start in the Sires’ Produce Stakes on June 4 and McEvoy hopes to be in the saddle for that race and the TJ Smith.
Schofield has already obtained his clearance to return to race riding at Rosehill before heading to Singapore to ride Gitano Hernando in Sunday’s Group One Singapore Airlines International Cup (2000m).
The following Saturday he will be reunited with Hay List when he takes on Black Caviar again in the Doomben 10,000.
AAP TURF
