BARBURY Castle trainer Alan King will no doubt be looking around for jockeys for the forthcoming National Hunt season following an injury to the stable’s number one jockey Robert ‘Choc’ Thornton who could be out for a year after a fall on Hell’s Bay at Newton Abbot on Monday.

With Swindon jockey Wayne Hutchinson, featured last week in Turf Talk, also on the injured list and not expected back in the saddle until the end of August, it could prove to be a problem for the Barbury Castle trainer.

King was reported as saying: “Choc is a huge part of the team and it is a devastating blow for him and all of us here. We will get by, but I feel sorry for Choc, let’s hope he gets back earlier than he thinks.” The fall caused extensive ligament damage to Thornton’s right knee and test results left the jockey stunned.

Knee specialist Jonathan Webb, the former England rugby international, told Thornton that we will work backwards from 12 months, and anything under that time would be a bonus.

n BECKHAMPTON trainer Roger Charlton, who is having one of his best seasons for several years, got the week off to a good start by saddling Home Advantage to win the mile-and-a-half handicap at Bath, the three-year-old’s third victory in succession.

Moving on to Newmarket’s prestige July meeting later in the week, the trainer won the first race on the card, the Champagne Lanson EBF Fillies’ Handicap, with Folly Bridge, ridden by Steve Drowne.

The jockey then travelled to Lingfield to partner the Charlton-trained Goldtrek in the last race on the card, the three-year-old beating Astral Flower by one-and-a-quarter lengths for an across-the-card double for the Beckhampton handler.