TOP jockey Ryan Moore looks set to miss the rest of the Flat season after it was revealed he was suffering with a stress fracture to his femur.
The shock news will cause champion trainer Aidan O’Brien a huge headache given how many big Group 1s are coming up over the next couple of months.
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He will already be without second jockey Wayne Lordan for Irish Champions Weekend and the St Leger meeting after he picked up a 10-day whip ban at Goodwood last weekend.
But for world-class Moore, who has been struggling with pain in his thigh since late June, it’s a complete nightmare and could not have come at a worse time.
A host of Ballydoyle stars are being prepared for big targets at Leopardstown and the Curragh in a fortnight, while the rider is also a major doubt to make it back for the Arc meeting, British Champions Day and the Breeders’ Cup.
Moore was stood down from his five rides at the Curragh on Saturday after stewards’ reported he was feeling ‘sore’.
But O’Brien later revealed the full extent of the injury and said Moore was going to require an extended period of time on the sidelines.
O’Brien said: “Ryan had a scan yesterday and they found a fracture in his femur.
“He’s been struggling with his right leg since after the Irish Derby, and he was getting a lot of stuff done to it and trying to keep it right, like Ryan obviously would.
“They thought a lot of different things were going on with it, but he had a scan yesterday, and when they did the scan they found a fracture in his femur, so when they found that, Ryan had no choice but to give it time.
“I don’t know how long he will be on the sidelines for, it could be one month, two months, three months or more, but Ryan will know when the time is right and will probably get it scanned every week or two to see how it is healing, and we will go from there.
“He rode a filly in Germany the other week and she whipped round and Ryan landed on his feet. I don’t know if that made it worse or opened it up.
“It’s far from a problem, but it’s just going to take a bit of time to get right. That’s the way it is.”
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