Gigginstown Stud's leading rider Jack Kennedy is said to making great progress after sustaining a broken leg in February and will be ready to ride again during the summer.
Unfortunately the 20 year old missed out on this season's Cheltenham festival after he took a nasty fall on Dallas De Pictons at the Dublin Racing festival just an hour after triumphing in the Irish Gold Cup on Board Delta Work.
He suffered a fractured femur which ended his season indefinitely but with the cancellation of the rest of the Irish jumps racing season it has meant he will not miss out on as many events as he first thought he would.
He hopes to be back in the saddle as soon as possible with the Galway summer festival at the end of July looking like a highly reachable target for return.
(Credit Racing Post) Kennedy said:"You might think that I’d be happy with no racing on because I cannot ride, but I actually hate it. I love going racing and I love watching it too. I find the days very boring with no racing to watch. I cannot wait until it starts back again.
🥊 Delta Work vs Kemboy vs Presenting Percy - three warriors, one fine finish
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) February 2, 2020
Delta Work wins the Irish Gold Cup for @gelliott_racing & @jackkennedy15 at @LeopardstownRC
🏆 Grade One Savills Chase
🏆 Grade One Irish Gold Cup
✅ Double completed... next stop Cheltenham pic.twitter.com/tEX89HE7vy
"The recovery is going well, and I would hope to be back riding out in the next month to six weeks. I’d definitely hope to be back in time for Galway. The process is a little bit slower than the last time I broke my femur as the fracture was higher up last time. Where it happened this time cannot take as much weight. I’m still on crutches at the moment but I’m putting as much weight on it as I can and it’s getting better all the time.
"My appointments with the specialist have been cancelled due to the Covid-19 circumstances, but I’ve been in contact regularly with Dr Paddy Kenny and he’s happy with how things are progressing. He’s given me plenty of exercises to get all the muscles back working."
The young rider missed out on some huge rides at this year's Cheltenham festival which would have seen him land the Marsh Novices' Chase on board Samcro and also the nail biting finish on board Abacadabras in the Supreme Novices' Hurdle.
Kennedy added: "It was obviously annoying to miss the ride on Samcro, but I was delighted for the horse that he won. He deserved it. As for Abacadabras, he ran a cracker. He is a pleasure to ride as he just picks up whenever you want him to. He has so much speed. It is great for the yard to hopefully have a Champion Hurdle contender next season."