Injured H&H columnist Choc Thornton to miss Cheltenham Festival
H&H columnist Robert “Choc” Thornton will miss the Cheltenham Festival next week after being sidelined with a broken arm and three fractured vertebrae.
The 34-year-old, stable jockey to Alan King’s Barbury Castle Stables near Marlborough, sustained the injuries in a fall at Southwell on Monday (4 March).
The horse he was riding, Our Phylli Vera, fell at the third last fence in a hurdle race.
“It was an innocuous fall but I got steamrollered from behind [by another horse],” said Choc.
“I got to my feet, and [fellow jockey] Ger Tumelty drove me home. I had some supper that evening but was fairly sore, so I went to hospital in Cheltenham that night and had X-rays on my arm, pelvis, chest and back.”
Choc missed two months of the 2011-12 jumps season with a fractured right arm, and tests showed that he had broken the same arm — within the plates used to fix the previous fracture, so no displacement occurred.
“I wanted to explore whether I could still ride, as the plate is holding it there,” said Choc. “But X-rays on my back showed three minor fractures to transverse processes.
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“It’s not as serious as it sounds. My arm isn’t plastered and I will probably be out for two months.
“I’m bitterly disappointed to miss Cheltenham and Aintree, but I’m not going to rush the recovery. I want to be fully fit and ready for next season.”
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A St Andrews’ graduate, Catherine joined Horse & Hound in 2002 and stayed for 11 years in a variety of roles until she went freelance in June 2013. She rejoined the team part-time in November 2016 as hunting editor. She pretty much lives on the hunting field or at the racecourse, but also loves eventing, as a journalist, press officer and competitor. She was H&H’s sole accredited journalist at the London Olympic Games and has reported from major race meetings and eventing, showjumping and dressage championships and shows round the world, and has hunted all over Britain and Ireland.