Teetan cleared to ride after horror fall, Piccone still stuck on sidelines

Karis Teetan will take his rides at Sha Tin on Sunday, miraculously escaping serious injury after a horror fall at Happy Valley on Wednesday night.

The Mauritian hit the ground hard and was taken to hospital as a precaution when Yoo Yoo King tragically broke down badly in the latter stages of the Class Three Harbour Handicap (1,800m).

There were initial concerns for Teetan’s right shoulder but on Thursday morning he was given the green light to line up this weekend.

“It’s very good news. He intends on riding in the trials [on Friday morning]. The doctors will have another look at him then but as we stand today, he’s fit to ride on Sunday,” Jockey Club licensing committee secretary Terry Bailey said.

“They’re satisfied there are no muscle tears, no fractures, he’s obviously having plenty of physio work but it’s all systems go.”

It’s a positive result for the 31-year-old, who boasts a full book of 10 rides at the meeting, including Hongkong Great in the day’s feature, the Class Two Tsuen Lok Handicap (1,200m) on the dirt.

While there is relief at Teetan’s outcome, things are not going as well for fellow jockey Tony Piccone, who will be forced to spend some more time on the sidelines.

The Frenchman initially hurt his ankle before the opening race at Sha Tin on September 26 and while he completed his rides on that day, it has deteriorated since.

He was forced to miss the National Day meeting because of the ailment before beginning a two-meeting suspension, but he won’t be able to return when that ends for next week’s Happy Valley card.

“It happened in the barriers and it progressively got worse and we got him into the doctors earlier in the week and they detected a fracture,” Bailey said.

“We were hoping he would be back by the time his careless riding suspension was up but that’s not going to be the case by the look of it. They’re going to have another look at him towards the end of next week and reassess him but he could be another couple of weeks away.”

Piccone is one of three jockeys, alongside Jack Wong Ho-nam and Victor Wong Chun, who is yet to get off the mark this season but the latter two have chances to break their ducks on Sunday.

With championship-leading jockey Zac Purton suspended, the 10-race card presents an opportunity for some of the lesser-lights to shine.

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Jack Wong is booked for five rides, two of whom create particular interest – Masterwork and Winner Method.

The former finished a narrow second at his most recent outing in May and returns to the same course and distance in the Class Five Chung On Handicap (1,200m) on the all-weather track. He’s likely to push forward from barrier 11 and give his rivals something to chase.

The latter is a rare opportunity for the 27-year-old to get on a talented horse with Danny Shum Chap-shing needing a lightweight rider as he tries the four-year-old on the dirt for the first time in the Class Two Tsuen Lok Handicap (1,200m).

Winner Method missed a placing for the first time in his career last start but should get a chance to bounce back after coming up with barrier two.

Victor Wong has three rides, with two of them looking to have strong hopes.

Benno Yung Tin-pang’s Amazing Rocky was around the mark throughout his first campaign and makes his seasonal return in the Class Four Hoi Pa Handicap (1,000m), while the Dennis Yip Chor-hong-prepared Flying Bonus lines up in the Class Two after a dominant last-start victory.

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