Horrific leg break forces Liam Keniry to put quest for milestone success on hold

Senior Flat jockey Liam Keniry is hoping it is not too long before he can celebrate his 1,000th winner in Britain after shattering his right leg at Ascot this month.

Keniry had been due to partner the Clive Cox-trained Get In in a 5f heritage handicap at the Berkshire track two weeks ago, but the three-year-old became spooked just before the race and the rider was subsequently injured.

He now faces around three months out, but remains upbeat.

"I got on the horse in the paddock and he got very worked up, and we parted company on the walkway out to the track," he said on Monday.

"I definitely knew I had broken my lower leg and I've dislocated my foot, broke my fibula, which is now plated, and broke my ankle, which has got screws in it.

"I've fractured my back before but this would be the one I'll be out the longest for I think."

Liam Keniry career statistics

The 38-year-old lives in Hungerford, so will make the most of the facilities at Oaksey House – a rehabilitation centre for jockeys in nearby Lambourn – when he can, and reaching 1,000 winners in his adopted homeland will be the first thing he seeks to tick off after his return.

"The BHA's Dr Jerry Hill has been brilliant and I was operated on in London by a specialist called Peter Rosenfeld, who said about 12 weeks, hopefully," he added. "It's too early to say exactly.

"I've ridden 998 winners and actually rode my 1,000th on Tregony at Bath a couple of weeks ago, but that's counting a few winners back in Ireland.

"This time of year is the busiest from a Flat jockey's point of view so there couldn't be a worst time to be out, but you have to get on with it and keep positive, and I'm looking forward to getting back.

"I need to go back to London to see the consultant in two weeks and then hopefully I can have my cast off and get a boot on, and then get to Oaksey House."

Keniry, successful in a handful of Group and Listed races, is an experienced member of the weighing room who enjoyed his most prolific campaign in 2010 with 90 winners.

He has mainly ridden for Lambourn trainers Clive Cox, Stan Moore and Sylvester Kirk this term.

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