Cork jockey Connor King is set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines after fracturing a vertebra in a fall at Galway on Tuesday.

King, a Kilbrin native, was riding Andrew Lee-trained Sea Captain in the Caulfield Industrial European Breeders Fund Maiden when his mount slipped up after just a furlong.

The rider was conscious and had movement in all limbs before being taken to hospital for further examination and initial CT scans taken on Tuesday evening came back clear.

However, the Irish Turf Club’s chief medical advisor Dr Adrian McGoldrick was keen for King to undergo an MRI scan on Wednesday morning, after which the extent of his injuries were revealed.

McGoldrick said: “The CT scans came back clear, but I just wasn’t 100 per cent happy with him so he’s had an MRI scan this morning and he has a stable fracture of his T8 (vertebra).

“So far we have just seen the preliminary report, but he will probably be out of action for six to eight weeks.”

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