JACK KENNEDY will do everything in his power to make it back in time for the Cheltenham Festival in March.
The luckless jock, 23, faces an uphill battle to be fit for the biggest meeting of the year after he broke his leg for a FIFTH time.
He fractured both his tibia and fibula in two places after taking a heavy fall from the ill-fated Top Bandit at Naas on January 8.
It is the latest in a string of serious injuries the young Irishman has suffered in just a few years.
He has had separate spells on the sidelines with a broken arm, collarbone, ribs and toe – while you can also chuck a couple of shoulder dislocations into the mix.
His latest injury setback prompted former champ Davy Russell to come out of retirement to ride as super-sub for the Gordon Elliott stable.
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Kennedy, who won the Gold Cup in 2021 on Minella Indo, missed the Festival in 2020 after breaking his leg at Leopardstown in early February.
On that occasion, he fractured his left femur and didn’t return to the saddle for over seven months.
He will be desperate to avoid the same fate this year – with Russell currently in line to take his big-race rides on Conflated, Teahupoo and Mighty Potter.
Nice guy Kennedy has been bored out of his mind on the sofa at home with a cast on his leg, but he is hoping for good news when he goes for a check-up on Friday.
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Kennedy said: “I’m not too bad, it’s frustrating but I’m just resting at home with my leg in the cast. There’s not much else I can do at the moment.
“I haven’t started any rehab yet, I have to wait until I’m out of my cast. I’m back in hospital on Friday when I hope they’ll be able to take it off.
“Thankfully I didn’t need an operation in the end, it wasn’t a bad break and it definitely could have been a lot worse.
“I’ve had my fair share of injuries but it comes with the job unfortunately, it’s a part of racing.
“I’ve broken both legs but I’ve never broken my tibia before, this is a new one.
“I’m just taking it day by day, I will work hard to get back but it’s impossible to say when I’ll return at the moment.”
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