Condon on comeback trail

Davy Condon is nearing a return to competitive action after riding out on Wednesday morning for the first time since suffering a heavy fall at Cork in August.

Condon was partnering the Gordon Elliott-trained Flaxen Flare at the Mallow track, a horse he guided to Cheltenham Festival glory in the Fred Winter Juvenile Hurdle in March the previous year, when he crashed out two flights from the finish.

The jockey suffered three fractured vertebrae in the fall and initially feared he may never ride again after suffering a rare condition called spinal concussion, which briefly left him unable to move from the neck down.