Surgery for Cox and Walsh following apprentice race melee

Two of the jockeys involved in a horrible three-horse melee at Wolverhampton on Friday evening spent some of Saturday on operating tables following a race that had a much more enjoyable outcome for claimer Laura Coughlan.

Eoin Walsh sustained a bad fracture to his left arm, while William Cox suffered a broken jaw when they and Toby Eley crashed out of the apprentice handicap at the start of the Wolverhampton card.

Cox was in a prominent position on Mobley Chaos entering the home turn when his mount clipped heels and came down. Walsh, riding Secret Lightning, was hampered and unseated, while Eley was brought down on Binky Blue.

Walsh seems set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines based on the prognosis given to him in New Cross Hospital, from where he tweeted: "Thanks everyone for the messages. Sorry I can't reply to everyone.

"I'm going for an operation on my radius and ulna later today. Doctor said I'll be out for a minimum four months. Also thanks very much to the racecourse paramedics and staff and also the doctors and nurses who are looking after me."

New Cross also became an unwanted temporary home to Cox, who was knocked unconscious in the fall.

His mother, Joanna, reported: "He has broken his jaw and gone into surgery to have it fixed. He lost a few teeth but has no other injuries and seems in good spirits.

"He can't remember what happened. It's bad enough but it could have been worse and he'll hopefully come home on Sunday."

A second fall for Eley

More fortunate was Eley, who had been aboard Binky Blue for boss Mark Loughnane.

The trainer, who described the filly as "very sore with a bad haematoma", said: "Toby is stiff and sore but has been riding out today, so he's very lucky. He's also unlucky, though, as it's the second time that's happened to him this year, neither time through any fault of his own. A horse fell in front of him at Lingfield and he took a mother and father of a fall there as well.

"The best thing to do in the circumstances is to get back on a horse, so hopefully he'll have a couple of rides for me next week."

Also keen to be racing again over the coming days is 22-year-old Coughlan, who steered the Jo Hughes-trained Wink Oliver to break her duck in the saddle on just her ninth ride, six of which have come on the five-year-old.

"It was amazing, such a good feeling, although it didn't really hit me straight away," she said. "I'd ridden the horse a few times in races and ride him at home as well. Everything went to plan.

"At the time I didn't know what had happened in the race, although I knew a lot was going on as I could hear the shouting. Then I pulled up and saw the loose horses, which was awful."