Racing:Tony McCoy hopes to be out of action for "days rather than weeks" after his quest to ride 300 winners this season was dealt a hammer blow.
McCoy suffered suspected fractured ribs in a fall at Taunton on Friday, the latest in a long line of recent heavy falls for the perennial champion jockey.
While early estimates suggested McCoy could be out for anything up to a month, he hopes to be back as quickly as possible.
Writing in his column in the Daily Telegraph McCoy said: “I have had quite a few heavy falls lately and was hanging together with stitches and sticking plaster while some bits were stuck on with glue.
“But after going over Laudatory’s head at the last in the handicap hurdle and then physically bringing him down myself - it felt like he had more feet than a centipede - it was the final straw.
“At least I haven’t punctured a lung or anything like that and I am thinking of being out for days rather than weeks, but this has knocked on the head any chance I had of riding 300 winners this season or even beating my previous best of 289. For that I needed a clear run with injuries, suspensions and the weather.
“Once I am comfortable my main focus will be getting back in the saddle as soon as reasonably possible and doing anything I can to speed up the healing process.”