Group 1-winning jockey Damien Thornton to spend months on sidelines after more fractures found
Jockey Damien Thornton rode his first Group 1 winner in the autumn, but he’ll be watching from the sidelines for the remainder of 2020 after major surgery to repair foot fractures.
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Group 1-winning jockey Damien Thornton will spend the rest of 2020 on the sidelines after receiving an unwelcome surprise.
Thornton was injured in a racing incident at Pakenham on August 31. He initially thought he’d broken a bone in his right foot and would miss six weeks but a second opinion determined the problem was a lot worse than the initial diagnosis.
“It was worse than what they thought,” Thornton said. the first hospital only found one fracture but when I went to see Gary Zimmerman, he said there were actually five (fractures) and ligament damage.
“The first prognosis was that I’d be back in about six weeks but once they did more scans and whatnot, it was a lot worse than they thought.”
The multiple fractures led to Thornton undergoing surgery to put three plates and screws into his foot. Thornton will be in a moon boot for the next six weeks before an appointment with his surgeon.
“I’m doing the physio now and I’ll be in the moon boot for another few weeks. Then I’ll go back and see the surgeon to find out if the moon boot can come off or not,” Thornton said.
“I’d love to be back in December but the doctors and surgeon said realistically I’ll be back in January.”
Thornton’s injury could not have come at a worse time for the jockey, who rode his maiden Group 1 winner aboard the Chris Waller-trained Toffee Tongue in the Schweppes Oaks at Adelaide in May.
Thornton had built an association with the Melbourne arm of the Waller camp in recent months, which he had hoped would lead to opportunities in the spring.
“It has been plenty of Netflix and a bit of PlayStation but there’s not much I can do,” Thornton said.
“It’s frustrating to see her (Toffee Tongue) racing and the multiple horses from the Chris Waller stable that I was riding but that’s just the way it is.
“It’s definitely frustrating but I think I’ve copped it pretty well. I can’t change it now so I just deal with it.”
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Originally published as Group 1-winning jockey Damien Thornton to spend months on sidelines after more fractures found