Jockey Nick Hall faces the possibility of a year on the sidelines
Jockey Nick Hall faces the possibility of a year on the sidelines with a hip injury which requires surgery.
Hall has previously had surgery on his left hip but his right one is now the problem.
The surgery may not take place until May and with recovery and rehabilitation it could place Hall on the sidelines for the remainder of the year.
Hall’s manager Reece Murphy said the jockey was remaining positive but was disappointed to forego the ride on his Caulfield Cup-winning mount Jameka in Saturday’s Group One C F Orr Stakes at Caulfield.
He was also in the running for the ride on Jukebox in the Blue Diamond Stakes on February 25 should Craig Williams knock back the mount.
Murphy said if it was in the middle of winter rather than at the start of the autumn it would not be as painful as it is now.
“He cut his spring short last year in a bid to get back for the autumn but he’s tried that and that hasn’t worked,” Murphy told RSN927.
“He’s not able to maintain the workload of riding with all the trackwork and the race riding.
“If he was able to ride a horse just once, say on a Saturday and do all the rehab, he would be fine but he’s riding trackwork two or three days a week and riding four or five times a week.
“His body can’t handle that.
“He wants to get his body right, not just for next year, but for the rest of his life as he doesn’t want to spend his life in a wheelchair.”
