Fitzgerald faces long lay-off with broken neck

MICK FITZGERALD faces months on the sidelines after discovering that he has broken his neck in fall at Market Rasen last month.

He has to wear a brace for between four and eight weeks after undergoing a bone-graft operation and has yet has no timescale for his return to the saddle.

The 35-year-old Grand National and Cheltenham Gold Cup winning rider sustained the injury in a fall from Celtic Boy at the fifth fence in the Summer Plate Handicap Chase at the Lincolnshire track on July 16.