It might be a close call … who will be back in action first, the injured Robbie Dolan or a racetrack under the pump!
And then again, maybe not!
Dolan’s spectacular fall from Victory Command in seemingly bizarre circumstances during the seventh race at Eagle Farm on Saturday, which sparked a jockey’s revolt and ended the meeting prematurely, could have had a far worse outcome for the rider, but as it turned out Dolan … and, in fact, arguably all concerned … can count themselves lucky that Dolan only came away with a relatively minor injury, although any damage to the hands of a jockey is never ideal.
“I fractured a bone in the front of my hand,” confirmed Dolan. “I’m not exactly sure which bone it is, but it is one of the small bones in the middle.
“I’m in a cast at the moment …. so, I’ll probably be out for a month I’d say.
“It is pretty bruised and pretty sore as well. I’ll just let that heal up.
“The fall was painful. I was winded at the time, and I couldn’t breathe for a few minutes, so I didn’t know my hand was broken then.
“I wasn’t taken to hospital. I left the track by myself and then I was thinking, my hand is actually a little bit sore now that the adrenaline’s come out of it, so I decided to go to hospital … and, yeah, the hand was broken.
“It’s never a good time to be injured, but, if you are, this time of the year is probably not a bad time to be on the sidelines. You don’t get a break very often in this game … so having a bit of time to rest and refresh is also not a bad thing.”
Saturday’s incident, on the back of numerous previous complaints about horses shying at same place on the track with jockeys pointing to the adjacent building under construction as the cause, has already had major repercussions for the Brisbane Racing Club, and indeed for racing in Queensland, as the jockeys hold their ground and refuse to ride until the perceived threat to the safety of horse and rider at that section of the track has been dealt with to their satisfaction.
