Matthew Chadwick will undergo a knee reconstruction and miss up to eight weeks of riding, putting possible big-race rides in doubt, after injuries suffered in a barrier mishap last week were found to be far worse than first thought.
Specialists suggested surgery after diagnosing Chadwick with a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee and a damaged lateral cruciate ligament (LCL) after the jockey had his legs jammed in between a metal partition and fractious horse To Kalon prior to the opening race of last Thursday's National Day fixture at Sha Tin.
The 25-year-old had hoped he had avoided major injury, but specialists advised he would be sidelined for six to eight weeks - whether he had surgery or not.
"As I kept getting referred on to each specialist the news just got worse and worse," Chadwick said. "To be honest, I didn't think it was a big deal at first. I was ready to go back to work and try and see if I could ride."
What led to Chadwick's initial optimism was a lack of pain and scans that showed he was free of fractures.
"Even though it was a scary situation - the horse basically crushed me between the gates and his hindquarters - I was still pretty confident I hadn't broken anything. But there are no nerve connections inside the knee, so I didn't have a sense of how damaged it really was," he said.
"I could feel how unstable it was though - there was basically zero stability and it was like my shin bone wasn't in the right position. It makes sense now after the specialist told me the ACL was more than 90 per cent torn."
Chadwick will be pushing for a return in time for the Longines Hong Kong International Races on December 13, but will miss the important lead-up meetings.
"It's very frustrating, I was looking forward to getting back some momentum after last season and picking up some rides in the big races," said Chadwick, who missed eight weeks last season with a fractured little finger suffered in a freak trackwork accident. "The rehab process will take me right up to the week before the internationals."
He will miss the ride on Caspar Fownes-trained sprinter I'm In Charge in the Group Two Premier Bowl on October 25 and the possibility of combining with one of the Tony Cruz-trained runners slated for starts in the Group Two Oriental Watch Sha Tin Trophy on the same day.
