Young and highly talented rider Jason Watson will be off the track for at least eight weeks after fracturing his neck in a nasty fall at Kempton on Saturday.
The Champion Apprentice Jockey picked up the injury when he was involved in a freak accident at the start of the mile handicap contest at the all weather track when his horse Teresita Alvarez clipped heels with another horse in the first 100 yards of the contest.
The jockey initially was kneeling up but then lay down again with the paramedics and ambulance attending to the teenager. He was eventually stretchered off the track and taken straight to St Georges Hospital in Tooting where he was conscious and could feel all of his limbs.
(Credit Racing Post) His agent Tony Hind gave an update and said: "He has got two hairline fractures of the vertebrae in the neck. It was an unfortunate accident but luckily it doesn't seem too serious.
"He was discharged from hospital last night which is good news and he will be out for about six to eight weeks. I won't be bringing him back until the middle of March – there is no point rushing him."
Watson has reported on his Twitter account that he is fine and will make a full recovery and it looks to have fell very fortunate for the jockey as he is not expected to miss any of the summer flat season, in what is a big year for the youngster.
(Credit Racing Post) Hind added: "Barney Clifford [clerk of the course at Kempton] rang me straight away after the incident and said he wasn't unconscious at any point.
"I spoke to Jason last night and this morning and he seems okay and knew what was going on but he just didn't know exactly what happened. In in those sort of situations everything happens so quickly.
"The surgeon was very happy with him and he took x-rays as a precautionary measure, as they always do, and they found these very two small hairline fractures. They are a minimal fracture and it doesn't seem anything too serious."
(Credit Jason7Watson1)