Mick Fitzgerald was taken to hospital for precautionary Xrays on his left shoulder following a heavy fall from Chalkie Run in the Newbury Golf Pay `n' Play Novices' Hurdle yesterday. The Wexfordman, due to partner Fadalko in Saturday's Thomas Pink Gold Cup at Cheltenham, held a clear lead on Chalkie Run when the Nicky Henderson-trained gelding hit the deck at the second-last hurdle.

Fitzgerald walked away from the incident but was later checked over by a racecourse doctor and told that he should have the injury X-rayed. Fizgerald said: "I feel as if I've had a very bad bump and something might be sitting on a nerve. The shoulder's very sore but I don't think it's broken."

However, Henderson was fearing the worst. He said: "We are ready to fire some very serious guns over the weekend and now it looks like I might not have a jockey.

"It never rains but it pours as the horse was obviously going to go very close to winning. I've had Inca break a leg on the gallops last Saturday and another horse, also owned by Trevor Hemmings, called Kingara, also broke his leg today."