Adam Wedge to miss major spring festivals after injuring back in schooling session

Jockey Adam Wedge is facing up to missing the major spring festivals after suffering a back injury in a schooling fall on Thursday.

The incident happened at Martin Keighley's stable near Cheltenham, from where Wedge was taken to Gloucester Royal Hospital for treatment on fractures to three vertebrae.

Wedge, who returned home on Friday night, has been fitted with a back brace and expects to be sidelined for the foreseeable future.

"I had a schooling fall, landed awkwardly and I'm worse for wear," the jockey said on Saturday morning. 

"I've got compression fractures to three vertebrae, the T5, T6 and L1, and I'll be out for a good while. With all the big festivals coming up, it's not ideal but things could be a lot worse.

"Martin and Belinda [Keighley] were fantastic, they called the ambulance and it came and took me to hospital. I came back home last night and I've got a back brace on for a few weeks."

Wedge, who missed the Cheltenham Festival in 2021 due to an injury picked up in the days before the meeting, rode a winner on his most recent ride when partnering Mumbles to victory at Chepstow on Wednesday for his boss Evan Williams. It was his 27th of the season and he was due to ride at Doncaster on Saturday for Sam Thomas.

A winner of three Grade 1s including the 2020 Stayers' Hurdle on Lisnagar Oscar, Wedge is frustrated by the timing of the injury but is prepared not to rush his recovery.

"It's early but it's going to be a good while and with it being more than one vertebra, we'll need to make sure we get it all right," he said. "We'll make sure everything is 110 per cent before I come back."

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