Apprentice Walsh gutted as return to action delayed

Apprentice Eoin Walsh faces at least another two months out of the saddle after a check-up revealed a complication with a broken finger in his left hand.

Walsh had initially hoped to resume riding next month after he sustained his injury in a three-horse pile up at Wolverhampton in February but, following a visit to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, doctors discovered a small fracture in the finger.

Walsh said: “One of the bones in my hand has healed perfectly but an x-ray showed the other still has a very small fracture, and that means my hopes of returning to riding have been put back another couple of months – it’s not the end of the world but I’m gutted nonetheless.

“I was all geared up for coming back, so it’s a disappointment as everything had been going so well. I was even lifting weights with the hand in anticipation of being allowed to ride again. But now I have to wait until mid-July in the hope I'll get the all-clear.”

Walsh was aboard the Mick Appleby-trained Secret Lightning when the five-year-old was badly hampered and unseated him over a furlong out in the Wolverhampton race.

Walsh added: “There is not a lot I can do so I've decided to take a holiday in Majorca, play a bit of golf and hope the sunshine helps and things are fine when I go back to the hospital in mid-July, otherwise it may mean they have to operate again.”