Sean Bowen will need to wait for at least another year in order to bag his first winner at the Cheltenham Festival after breaking his collarbone at Kempton Park on Saturday afternoon.
The 22-year-old – son of Welsh trainer Peter Bowen – is attached to the Dorset yard of Harry Fry and he was aboard well-backed Just A Sting for that trainer in the Betway Handicap Chase.
The eight-year-old made a major blunder and unseated the jockey at the sixth, this enough to sideline Bowen for several weeks, a cruel blow given that the Cheltenham Festival is on the horizon.
Bowen said: “I saw Geoff Graham, a specialist in Cardiff on shoulders and that area, on Monday and will go back to see him in three weeks to that day.
“I’ll get another scan then and that might be four weeks from the injury. It’s the worst time to be out, but that’s life and I’ll be back for the Grand National meeting at Aintree.
“I knew I’d done it straight away and as soon as I hit the floor I knew it was gone.”
The Bath-based rider had his biggest win to date aboard Harry Fry-trained If The Cap Fits in the Grade One Stayers Hurdle at Aintree last year. With Bowen out of action, Johnny Burke partnered Boothill to a fine win in the bumper at Kempton Park.
Fry said: “Johnny did a fine job on Saturday, stepping in, and we’ll try to use him first and then the best available. We haven’t entered Boothill for Cheltenham; options are open – Aintree, Punchestown, or an ordinary bumper under a penalty.”