Nick Hall’s hopes of reuniting with star galloper Fawkner will have to wait a little longer as the jockey waits on his wrist injury to heal.
Hall has been out of the saddle for three months after having bone graft surgery on a non-union joint in his wrist which stemmed from a couple of old breaks.
The 2013 Caulfield Cup-winning rider had been aiming to be back on Saturday week for the Group One Memsie Stakes meeting, a race Fawkner is set to resume in.
Hall had an x-ray on his wrist on Wednesday which revealed it still needed more time.
“Where we are at at the moment is just waiting for it to unite, for the bone to all form together,” Hall said.
“I’ve just got to go in every two weeks and get an x-ray and see when it’s actually formed together.
“I had one (x-ray) yesterday and it’s getting closer and I’ll have another x-ray in two weeks and hopefully it will be right.”
Hall needs to be cleared before returning and said he can’t come back too soon otherwise he could end up re-injuring his scaphoid bone.
Having ridden Fawkner to victory in the 2013 Caulfield Cup and 2014 Caulfield Stakes as well as a second in last year’s Cox Plate, Hall is keen to get back in the saddle for a Spring campaign that will again target Australia’s weight-for-age championship.
“That’s what I was hopeful for (to return in the Memsie) but obviously that’s not going to happen,” he said.
“Ideally I’d like to be back now because all the horses are starting to kick-off, but there’s not much I can do about it.
“But I’ll be back for a good part of the spring anyway.”
