TOP jockey Callum Shepherd will miss the rest of the Flat season after breaking his collarbone and his back in a terrifying fall at Kempton.

He was riding Militry Decoration in the 4.12 race on the all-weather on Wednesday night when the horse clipped heels and fell, throwing Shepherd from the saddle.

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Shepherd was treated by medics on course and taken to hospital, where he was found to have suffered a stable fracture to his T3 and T6 vertebrae.

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He will see a specialist on Friday to determine the length of time it will take for him to return to the saddle.

Sadly, Militry Decoration suffered a fatal injury.

It means Shepherd, 27, will miss the lucrative meetings at Newmarket this weekend and British Champions Day at Ascot next weekend, where he would have been due to ride Quddwah in the QEII.

The nasty injury caps off a season of extreme highs and lows for the jockey.

He was shockingly jocked off Ambiente Friendly just days before the Derby, despite having ridden him to an impressive victory in a Classic trial.

Just two weeks later, he rode one of the biggest and most emotional winners of his career in the Hardwicke Stakes on Isle Of Jura at Royal Ascot.

He also suffered nasty facial injuries in a fall at Ascot and was banned for 18 days by the stewards at Kempton after they deemed he had thrown away outright victory after easing up near the line. He later appealed and had his ban overturned.

He told Sunracing: “I’ve broken my collarbone and fractured by T3 and T6 vertebrae, thankfully it’s a stable fracture and it’s just a case of managing the pain and resting up.

“I’m seeing a specialist tomorrow but it’s safe to assume I will miss the rest of the Flat season.

“It’s very frustrating but we all know what the worst case scenario can be with falls like this, so you just have to count yourself a little lucky.

“It has been a bit of a rollercoaster year, that’s for sure. I will just focus on getting back for the international racing over the winter now.”

As tennis legend Rafael Nadal announces his retirement, BBC Sport looks back at the moment the Spaniard clinched his maiden Wimbledon title in 2008 after an epic final against Roger Federer.

READ MORE: Tennis legend Nadal confirms retirement

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But, after some promise in their Premier Sports Cup group stage in which they won away to Championship hosts Thistle and became bookmakers’ favourites for the league title, they have gone eight games without a victory.

McCall told Clyde’s website: “I take great pride in having contributed to the club’s success in maintaining its league status last season, particularly from such a challenging position.”

Clyde said they “would like to place on record our huge thanks for his efforts in keeping the club in League 2 last season” as Scally and Kerr “assume responsibility of the team on a caretaker basis while we follow due process to appoint a new manager”.

Saturday’s 1-1 draw at home to The Spartans was Clyde’s fourth draw in a row after four consecutive defeats and they sit second bottom, two points above Edinburgh City.

The former Glasgow-based club also currently share Hamilton Academical’s New Douglas Park as they seek a new home ground after leaving Broadwood Stadium in Cumbernauld two years ago.

JUDD TRUMP was left embarrassed by a pre-match gaffe against rival John Higgins.

The pair, 35 and 49 respectively, renewed their rivalry on Wednesday in the quarter-finals of the Wuhan Open.

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But Trump almost played the match with the WRONG CUE after picking up Ben Woolaston’s on his way into the arena.

The World No.1 said of the brain fart: “I’ve never done that before!

“Ben Woolaston left his cue by my case during the interval and I must have picked his up.”

The accidental nicking of Woolaston’s cue only came to Trump’s attention when he began setting up for the match.

The snooker sensation said: “I didn’t realise until I got to the table. It felt strange, I looked down and it wasn’t my cue.

“Luckily for me, John was very nice about it and let me wait as long as possible.

“I think it’s happened before and somebody lost the frame.

“But John was nice enough to give me enough time to get my cue back.”

As the incident unfolded, a baffled Eurosport commentator Phil Studd said: “Now what’s happening here?

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“I thought Judd Trump just said, ‘This isn’t my cue.’ Well, whose is it then?

“It’s been a slightly strange session all round, really.

“We’ve had banging and crashing galore in the arena, we’ve had scoreboards malfunctioning and disappearing.”

Trump didn’t let the pre-match mix-up affect him as he continued his incredible win streak over Higgins.

Trump won their Chinese clash 5-2, a victory which saw him record his ELEVENTH win in his last 12 outings against the Scot.

When announcing he would not play in the 2023 French Open, Nadal said he planned to retire at the end of 2024 because of the series of injuries which were taking their toll on his body.

But, having returned earlier this season, Nadal became increasingly non-committal about his future.

The former world number one regularly said he wanted to keep playing as long as his body let him.

Now, after a chastening defeat by long-time rival Novak Djokovic at the Paris Olympics in July, he has decided the time is right.

“It is obviously a difficult decision, one that has taken me some time to make.

“But, in this life, everything has a beginning and an end.”

After returning to competitive action in Brisbane in January, Nadal was sidelined again with a thigh injury, missing the Australian Open.

Nadal played four tournaments during the European clay-court season, culminating in a first-round defeat at the French Open.

Since then he has played just two more tournaments – in Bastad and the Olympic Games at Roland Garros.

Last month he was included in Spain’s squad for the Davis Cup Finals, which takes place between 19-24 November.

“I think it’s the appropriate time to put an end to a career that has been long and much more successful than I could ever have imagined,” Nadal said.

“I’m very excited that my last tournament will be the final of the Davis Cup and representing my country.”

THIS is the awful moment a helpless jockey is flung like a rag doll in a terrifying pre-race scare at Sedgefield.

Poor Conor Rabbitt’s head was snapped back and his body yanked almost out of its saddle after getting tangled up in reins.

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The conditional jockey was riding 50-1 chance Skinty Fia to the start of a 2m1f bumper at the County Durham track on Wednesday when disaster struck.

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Eventual winner Riviera Walk was in the care of a handler when, somehow, Rabbitt appeared to ride between the horse and the track worker.

While Skinty Fia’s head ducked underneath the reins, Rabbitt wasn’t so lucky and it wrapped around his neck.

Cameras caught the moment he was effectively clotheslined in awful fashion, his body going from upright to horizontal in a fraction of a second.

The jockey later joked he ‘wouldn’t be any good at the limbo’ but in all seriousness it was a miracle he wasn’t seriously hurt.

The speed at which his neck connected with the rein could have led to all kinds of awful injuries.

Rabbitt and the horse were well enough to race but didn’t finish, being pulled up six furlongs from home.

In response to one punter praising his flexibility, Rabbitt wrote: “It’s never been pushed that far before. Awaiting great pain tomorrow morning.”

Viewers were relieved the jockey, who has 35 career wins and over £300,000 in prize money winnings, was all OK.

One said: “Nearly took the lad’s head off his shoulders.”

Another wrote online: “He needs to buy a lottery ticket this week, how lucky was he?!”

While a fellow punter posted: “Jeeze that could’ve been very nasty.”

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