Champion jockey Silvestre de Sousa faces month out after 'shocker' of a fall

Britain's champion Flat jockey Silvestre de Sousa faces more than a month on the sidelines after suffering a broken collarbone among other injuries in a fall at Chelmsford on Friday.

De Sousa, also a title winner in 2015 and 2017, was riding Alnadir for Simon Crisford when the three-year-old was squeezed for room and fell more than a furlong from home.

Theodore Ladd, riding second-placed Michele Strogoff, was found to have let his mount shift right-handed when insufficiently clear of Alnadir and was suspended for ten days for careless riding.

De Sousa, who is retained by the prominent King Power Racing operation, was taken to hospital and is now set for a spell on the sidelines, which could rule him out of some major autumn prizes.

His agent Shelley Dwyer's husband Chris said on Saturday morning: "He has been let home with a broken collarbone and a couple of fractures to his back.

"He's very sore, battered and bruised, and could be out for four to six weeks. He's lucky as it was a shocker of a fall and could have been so much worse."

Crisford reported the three-year-old gelding to be none the worse for his heavy fall, except for a few cuts and bruises.

He said: "He seems to be okay after what looked a nasty fall and I thought at the time the horse was lucky to get away with a few cuts. Having seen the fall, Silvestre was extremely lucky that his injuries weren't worse but I'm still very sorry for him."

De Sousa, who had been due to ride City of York Stakes winner Shine So Bright at York on Saturday, lies third in the 2019 title race behind Oisin Murphy and Danny Tudhope, although he had little chance of a fourth crown even before his injury.

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