Ben Curtis targeting speedy return from shoulder injury

PA Sport Reporters
June 26, 2021 11:30 am

Rider dislocated his shoulder while riding a winner at Newcastle.

Championship-chasing jockey Ben Curtis is aiming to be back in the saddle by the end of next week after dislocating his shoulder when winning on Crack Regiment at Newcastle on Friday evening.

Curtis had just produced his mount to take up the running in the Three Mile Handicap when his shoulder popped out of its joint, but he managed to retain his balance and still win the race.

“Everything is good, I have no pain at my end,” Curtis told Sky Sports Racing.

“It was a shame really, the race went absolutely perfect up until that point. I just went to give him one reminder and my shoulder popped out, which made it a little bit uncomfortable in the last 100 yards. Luckily we still won but it wasn’t an ideal situation.

“Your arm just goes limp and it just feels like a dead weight. There’s not much you can do, I was just trying to keep him straight with one arm. The arm is fairly useless at that point.

Ben Curtis on Crack Regiment (right) just before he dislocated his shoulder (Tim Goode/PA)

“I’ve done it before, coincidentally at Newcastle, it really dropped down a long way and was very painful, but yesterday it hadn’t dropped too far. It was painful, I spent the next five minutes trying to persuade someone to put it back in but no one would take the risk and I was shipped off to hospital.

“I went and had an X-ray, once they realised no bone had chipped they put it back in and did another X-ray and they were happy with the way it had set.

“There’s not much pain this morning and hopefully no lasting damage. Timeline wise, from my point of view I’d be well able to get back by the end of the week but you have to jump through a lot of hoops and there’s a lot of red-tape, so it will ultimately be up to Jerry Hill when I get back and he has my best interests at heart.

“I’ll get in to see a specialist in York and if they think it could happen again I’ll bite the bullet and have an operation in the winter but it’s not a great time of year to be out, it’s the busiest period.”