Frustrated Fanning facing long road to recovery after Musselburgh fall

Prolific winning jockey Joe Fanning is facing months out of action after fracturing his left shoulder in a fall at Musselburgh.

He admits he does not know how long he will be sidelined by the injury, which comes just as Mark and Charlie Johnston, for whose yard he has ridden for three decades, traditionally hits top form.

Fanning, 51, dislocated his shoulder when unseated from Braes Of Dune early on in a 1m1f handicap on Wednesday.

He saw specialist Simon Boyle later in the week and said: "The news isn't great. They x-rayed my left shoulder and I have a couple of small fractures in the humerus.

"It's weird because I'm not in any great pain. They did a great job in Edinburgh putting my shoulder back in and that's not going to give me any jip. It's the fractures that are the issue."

Fanning has ridden well over 2,500 winners in his career and was already on 41 for this year at the time of his injury.

"I'm going back on Monday for more scans then I'll go back every couple of weeks and they'll keep an eye on it," he said.

"It's not in plaster, hopefully it will heal itself. But it's going to take time. I'm not really sure how long I'll be out but it will certainly be months.

"It's 95 per cent certain I won't need an operation, that wouldn't speed it up at all. He wants me to rest it for a bit and I've got to let nature do its thing."

The summer is invariably a successful time for the Johnston yard, which set a record by sending out 50 winners in the month of July in 2019.

Reflecting on the timing of his injury, Fanning said: "It's frustrating but there are a lot of people worse off than me. It's one of those things."

John Gosden reported on Saturday that Frankie Dettori was set to ride for the Johnstons at Newmarket this week, due to Fanning's injury.

Charlie Johnston confirmed that the former champion jockey was likely to be riding for them and said: "Frankie is always on our radar for the big meetings.

"That will continue to be the case and we might be able to get hold of him a bit more often now. We've not lost any faith in him."

More to read:

48 and counting: Mark Johnston breaks his record for most winners in a month

Celebration time for Joe Fanning after riding 2,500th British Flat winner

John Gosden 'over the moon' with Frankie Dettori as he hints at reunion

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