Mick Fitzgerald is hoping to be back in time to partner Ad Hoc in the Hennessy Gold Cup on November 25, despite sustaining a small crack in his left shoulder at Newbury on Wednesday.
Fitzgerald was injured when Chalkie Run came down at the second last hurdle in the Golf `Pay `n` Play` Novices` Hurdle and he was taken to hospital where X-rays revealed the crack.
He went to see his orthopaedic surgeon Mike Foy today and said: 'He has had a good look at it and he said I have got a realistic chance of being back for the Hennessy.
'But he sent me to hospital in Swindon to have a scan on the bone to find out the real extent of the damage it will give a clearer picture of the problem but I won`t have the result of that until Monday.'
He went on: 'The Nicky Henderson camp is firing on all cylinders and starting to get going now and I don`t want to miss out on anything. I have been very lucky to have ridden a lot of nice horses this season for Mr (Robert) Ogden and I don`t want to miss any of those either.'
Fitzgerald has ridden 31 winners this season, 15 of them for Henderson, and he went on: 'It is not just the frustration of the pain, that is a very small part of it really, the pain of what you are going to miss is even worse - I had some nice rides coming up at Cheltenham this weekend too.
