With the Darwin Cup Carnival imminent, four senior NT jockeys are sidelined.
Top End trio Paul Shiers (bicep), Adam Nicholls (wrist) and Wayne Davis (back), as well as Alice Springs’ Phil Crich (illness) are either recuperating or receiving treatment.
Shiers, 51, suffered his injury at the start of a race on February 9, and Nicholls, 45, came to grief on March 16 when dislodged from his horse after it reared backing out of the gates.
Davis, 53, was thrown from his mount during trackwork on May 4, while Crich, 55, hasn’t ridden since the May 11 meeting at Fannie Bay.
Shiers, Davis and Crich won’t feature during the Darwin Cup Carnival, while Nicholls hopes to be available when it kicks off on July 6.
For Saturday’s meeting, only 10 jockeys are available, but Thoroughbred Racing NT chief executive officer Andrew O’Toole is confident numbers will increase before the carnival.
Red Centre-based Jessie Philpot, Dan Morgan, Dakota Gillett and Lek Maloney are also waiting in the wings.
“Paul left the gates and felt a pop in his right arm,” O’Toole said.
“He thought it was a cramp and rode in another race that day, but the bicep muscle had torn off the bone.
“They flew him to Brisbane because the longer you leave it, the harder it is to reattach.
“The treatment proved successful and he now has his arm out of the sling.
“He recently started a program to build the strength up in the arm.
“’Shiersy’ will hopefully be back post-carnival, maybe September.
“As for Adam, his horse went halfway in, backed out, spun around, jumped in the air and he came down from a fair height.
“He suffered a distal radius fracture to his right wrist — it was repaired with plates and pins.
“It’s healed pretty well and he hopes to resume race riding in three weeks.
“’Chippy’ returned to trackwork this week saying the wrist wasn’t giving him any trouble, but he’ll have to lose several kilos before carnival.”
For Davis, who had a stint in Geraldton from October to January, it was his third serious accident in Darwin since 2021.
With five fractured ribs and spinal damage to his T11 vertebrae, he admitted it was his worst career injury after 37 years of riding.
“I believe Wayne had a meeting with specialist from interstate on Tuesday,” O’Toole said.
“They had to wait for the injury to settle so they could have a look at the MRI results and X-rays to see if they needed to do anything else.
“He’s up and about and walking, but he has a back brace.
“Wayne is one of those upbeat people, but he will be out of action for some time.”
As for Crich, he has been receiving treatment for an unspecified illness at Royal Darwin Hospital.
“Phil has been unwell, they flew him up from Alice Springs for treatment and tests,” O’Toole said.
“Hopefully, we’ll know more sooner rather than later, but he’s presently out and we’re just not sure when he’ll return.”
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