Jockey Ruby Walsh is reported in good spirits after having surgery on a broken arm suffered in a fall on the final day of the Cheltenham festival.
The rider sustained a compound fracture of his right humerus after parting company with Abbyssial in the Triumph Hurdle.
Walsh’s sights are already fixed upon a return to action.
“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.”
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.
Fellow Irish rider Bryan Cooper, also injured during the Cheltenham meeting, is looking to return home within a week as he recovers in hospital from a broken leg.
Cooper suffered what was described as a complex fracture when he fell from Clarcam at the second-last flight of the Juvenile Handicap Hurdle on Wednesday.
The 21-year-old has also undergone surgery.