'My right leg was bent and my foot turned in - no x-ray needed'

First published on November 13, 2019

As the big owners and trainers begin to roll their big guns to the front line of the jumps season, it is easy to imagine that, for a top jockey like Barry Geraghty, now is the time simply to pick up the golden thread that runs between the spring festivals and the winter showpieces, and to resume business as usual.

As the Nicky Henderson-trained Champ landed his first novice chase at Newbury last week in the reassuring green and gold of Geraghty's retaining owner JP McManus, punters' thoughts turned immediately to Cheltenham, but the jockey himself would surely have been forgiven a glance over his shoulder at the traumatic events of the past six months, and a moment of reflection on the horrors that briefly yet disturbingly laid their clammy hand on his future in the saddle.