Jockeys Noel Fehily and Christian Williams Out for the Season

It appears as though the door is officially shut for two high quality National Hunt jockeys as injury has officially ruled both Noel Fehily and Christian Williams out of the Festival Season. Williams had been laid up since suffering breaks in both arms during a meet at Cheltenham in November while Fehily injured his wrist in a fall during the Hennessy Festival at Newbury.

It was a cruel blow for Fehily, who had been getting the choice mounts for the Paul Nicholls yard due to Ruby Walsh being absent for the bulk of the jumps season. Fehily had been back in the saddle for just a few months after returning from an eight-month layoff due to a damaged shoulder from the previous year.

Speaking to the Racing Post, Fehily stated “I’ll be in a cast for a month or maybe two… It’s pretty much the timescale they’ve been talking about since day one… It could be the end of April before the cast comes off… It could be May or June before I’m race-riding again.”

Williams was obviously doing his bets to shine a positive light on the unfortunate injury. “If you saw me walking down the street you wouldn’t know there’s anything wrong with me. Realistically, I won’t be back until around September.” He went on to reiterate that he was getting a range of movement back in his arms and that things were improving.