Hugh Bowman won't ride this weekend on advice from neurosurgeon

Champion jockey Hugh Bowman will not ride at the Coolmore Classic meeting or the Hong Kong Derby meeting this weekend after consulting with a neurosurgeon on Wednesday.

Bowman visited Dr Mark Winder for concussion tests after his fall from Performer in the Todman Stakes last Saturday and was told he could not be cleared to ride.

“I just still feel a bit dusty,” Bowman said. “The neurosurgeon said I could get back into it next week but I just need to rest for now.

“I should be able to get back on and ride a couple from next Tuesday, but it just takes time.”

Bowman will not travel to Sunday’s Hong Kong Derby meeting, where he was to ride the horse on which he won last year’s Queensland Derby, Ruthven.

He will meet the neurosurgeon again next week and have to pass a cognitive test before riding again. Bowman is still confident he will ride Winx in the George Ryder Stakes on Golden Slipper day on March 24.

Bowman was knocked out for a couple of minute in the fall from Performer, which veered out and sent him crashing to the turf.

It was an unusual fall for Bowman, who rides foot-in-the-irons, because he had his foot forced out of the stirrup when Performer shied out and tossed him into the air.

Bowman has missed a raft of winners since the fall. He was scheduled to ride four winners at Canberra on Sunday and had been booked for five winners at Warwick Farm on Wednesday, including three of Chris Waller's four wins on the midweek card.

Performer has to pass a barrier trial test at Randwick on Thursday to get a stewards embargo lifted from the incident in the Todman Stakes.

Waller will put a set of blinkers on him for the trial, which he will carry in the Golden Slipper on Saturday week, if he is cleared to run.

Bowman will have first refusal on the Golden Slipper ride on Performer, which won the Breeders Plate and Cannonbury Stakes before his fall last start. He is a $9 chance in the world's richest two-year-old race.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong-based Tommy Berry has been booked to ride Todman Stakes winner Alymerton in the Golden Slipper.

There is a deal being put together by a leading stud to buy a share in the French-bred two-year-old, which is unbeaten in two starts.

Article courtesy of Fairfax Digital and The Brisbane Times