Hatch still seeking green light for return to the saddle

Cheltenham Festival-winning jockey Ryan Hatch remains hopeful of a return to the saddle before the core jumping season gets under way in October but has not yet been given a specific date.

Hatch, who landed the 2016 RSA Chase at the festival on Blaklion for his boss Nigel Twiston-Davies, has been on the sidelines since sustaining serious neck and back injuries when his mount Cogry fell at Cheltenham last December.

The rider was found to have fractured his C6 and C7 vertebra at the base of his neck and also the T6 vertebra below his shoulder blade, along with a fractured sternum. He spent a number of weeks in Southmead Hospital in Bristol.

He said: “I haven't been given a date when I can return to riding but everything's going in the right direction, slowly but surely. I have to have check-ups with two different consultants at some stage shortly and they'll forward their findings to Dr Jerry Hill at the BHA.

Hatch heading for victory on Blaklion in the 2016 RSA Chase

“Hopefully that will happen sooner rather than later and I'll get a date, as it's now been eight months since the incident at Cheltenham. It’s been very frustrating, to say the least, but I was aware it was going to be a slow process and you have to keep thinking positively.”

Hatch, 24, added: “I'm going to Oaksey House in Lambourn three days a week, keeping busy and fit and getting loads of physio on my back, which seems to be responding well.

"The hope is I'll be back before October, but that will all be down to the doctors giving me the green light.”