Muniandy set sights on Oamaru return

[Wandering Eyes]

Shankar Muniandy is hoping his ankle mends in time for Sunday week’s Oamaru Cup day.

The Otago jockey was worst affected by a three-horse fall at Ashburton last Thursday, needing assistance to get into an ambulance with his ankle heavily strapped after he was dislodged from Devil In Disguise.

X-rays cleared Muniandy of any breaks but he said he was still needing to walk with the aid of crutches.

“The horse in front of me went down pretty quickly and my horse had nowhere to go and then the horses behind me just ran me over,” said Muniandy, who also trains a small team.

“My legs were pretty battered and bruised, from getting kicked and ran over. I’ve sprained my ankles but luckily nothing was broken.

“I’ll start walking around a bit more freely next week and hopefully I can be back for Oamaru. I know I need to take it easy but Terry Kennedy has a couple in that day and I’ll have a couple in myself.

“I’ve had a couple of Brian Anderton’s boys come and give me a hand and I’ve got Daniel Bothamley coming to stay at my place next week to give me a hand.”

Otago’s Corey Campbell, who was brought down on Lit’l Rock, will also return at Oamaru, having been unable to get a doctor’s appointment to gain medical clearance to ride at Riccarton on Friday.

“I’ve got a clean bill of health, just a bit of bruising around my elbow and wrist but I’ll definitely be back riding at Oamaru,” he said.

Canterbury apprentice Wesley Papier suffered only superficial injuries when his mount Brancaster Bomber fell but said he would bypass Friday’s Riccarton meeting and ease himself back into riding next week.

None of the horses were seriously injured. Christchurch jockey Terry Moseley was suspended for four weeks for careless riding stemming from the incident.

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