Longer break for Ben Allen with injury
Sidelined with suspension for a whip rule breach apprentice Ben Allen now faces a longer time out with injury.
Allen suffered a fracture to his left shoulder in an accident at the Caulfield jumpouts on Tuesday.
He was riding a horse of Ciaron Maher’s when it reared up while loading into the barriers.
After Allen slipped off the side, the horse came down and struck his shoulder, initially dislocating it.
“When I got up it popped straight back into place,” Allen told Melbourne radio station RSN.
“It was quite painful but after a while I thought it might have been just bad bruising, but they then said I had fractured the coracoid bone.”
Allen is unsure if the shoulder requires surgery and will see the Racing Victoria doctor on Friday.
“Hopefully it will be six weeks until I can get back to a race,” Allen said.
“That’s coming from the doctors at the hospital but I’ll find out more from doctor (Gary) Zimmerman.”
It’s the second injury setback the 17-year-old has had in a little over 12 months of competitive riding.
He broke a wrist in a fall at Geelong last year which put him out for two months.
Last month Allen outrode his provincial claim and has since become a regular at city meetings.
However he’s incurred the wrath of stewards for whip rule breaches at the past two metropolitan meetings, including an eight-meeting ban last Saturday.