Champion jockey in horror garden accident


CHAMPION jockey Jim Cassidy will undergo surgery on Wednesday after suffering serious hand injuries which will keep him out of the spring carnival.

Cassidy was trimming a hedge at his Sydney home when the tool slipped and sliced two of the fingers on his right hand.

After visiting his local hospital, Cassidy went to a specialist who assessed the damage and determined he needed an operation.

"Jim will have the operation at noon tomorrow and his spring carnival is gone," the jockey's close friend, racing commentator Richard Callendar, said.

Cassidy had a strong book of rides at Saturday's Epsom Handicap meeting including Bellagio Wynn, who is owned by Callendar's wife Kaye, in the Group One Metropolitan Handicap.

He is the regular partner of dual Group One winner Vision And Power who is heading towards next month's Cox Plate and he won the AJC Australian Derby on the Bart Cummings-trained Roman Emperor who is on a Melbourne Cup mission.

Cassidy has made successful comebacks from career-threatening injuries over the past few years.

He underwent reconstructive surgery on his shoulder in 2008 which kept him out of the saddle for nine months.

In June 2007, Cassidy suffered a broken ankle, four broken ribs and injuries to both knees after the horse he was riding in the Queensland Derby snapped a leg.

A former New Zealander, Cassidy first rose to prominence in Australia with his win on Kiwi in the 1983 Melbourne Cup.

He has gone on to become one of an elite group of riders to win the four majors, the Melbourne Cup, Caulfield Cup, Cox Plate and Golden Slipper.