Kieren Fallon is making such progress from the injuries he received in a fall at Royal Ascot in June that he could return to the saddle as early as next month.
The champion jockey has been sidelined since a four-horse pile-up in the Ascot Stakes which left him requiring surgery at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore to save the use of his left arm.
He had appeared set to miss the rest of the season but is now hoping for a much earlier return to action.
'After weeks of anxiety I am now certain that I will be riding again this season. If I continue to make the kind of progress I`ve made in then past week then a return to the racing saddle sometime in September is a distinct possibility,' Fallon told the Victor Chandler International website.
'When you consider that there were times when I thought that I might not see activity until 2001 it should be easy to understand what a massive boost this is to me.
'I`ve responded much better to physiotherapy and my left hand is now 100 per cent. The arm movement is improving all the time and it`s 60-40, just a bit tight but loosening every day.
'If I keep making this kind of headway then I don`t think it will be long before I`ll be going for a trot on the pony and starting to work on my race fitness.
'It`s completely different coming back from a long suspension rather than an injury. It takes time for everything to get back into place and with so many people backing the horses I`m riding I`ll make sure I`m ready.'
