Franny Norton close to return from broken arm suffered at Brighton last month

Flat jockey Franny Norton is hoping to be back in action on the all-weather circuit shortly after recovering from a broken arm.

He suffered the injury in a freak accident at Brighton on October 5 when he was displaced from the Mark Johnston-trained Whitefeathersfall on the way to post for a mile novice stakes, despite doing his best to hang onto the 5-2 second favourite when he was spooked by groundstaff.

Norton, 51, had ridden 56 winners for the year at the time of his injury and looked on course to surpass his 2021 tally of 59 comfortably.

Norton's agent Niall Hannity said on Sunday: "Franny was in good form at Brighton having ridden a winner for George Boughey that afternoon but later was spooked as he went to post on Whitefeathersfall when some groundstaff came out from under a rail in front of him.

"Despite his best efforts he was unable to hang on and unfortunately broke his arm in the fall."

Franny Norton wins the Group 2 Princess of Wales's Stakes on Sir Ron Priestley (far side)Credit: Mark Cranham (racingpost.com/photos)

He added: "Thankfully, it was a clean break that didn’t need any surgery and hopefully he could be back in action in the coming weeks. Apart from this week, when there is no Flat racing until next Saturday, it’s an important time on the all-weather with Mark Johnston and some of his other stables having runners."

Norton notably won the Group 2 Jockey Club Stakes and the Princess Of Wales's Stakes on the Johnston-trained Sir Ron Priestley at Newmarket in the summer and also took the Group 3 March Stakes at Goodwood on stablemate Dancing King.

He has ridden winners through the winter months in Britain in each of the last five seasons, when he has had successful partnerships on the all-weather with trainers such as Michael Wigham, Mick Channon and Dean Ivory.

Relive some of Franny Norton's best days:

Franny Norton Chester Cup masterclass shows that Miracles do happen

Franny Norton: it's fantastic to finally win the biggest race at my track

Franny Norton guides Best Of Lips to stylish success in 'German Dewhurst'

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