Lucy was taken to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in the city where she underwent surgery to stabilise vertebrae fractures in her lower back.

The procedure involved a three-hour operation to insert two metal rods and associated plates to keep everything in place. X-rays have revealed that the operation was successful and the surgeon is happy although she may need further surgery sometime in the future.

It was one of those unlucky falls as the damage was done to Lucy when she was kicked in the back by another horse and she is now recuperating at home with instructions to have eight weeks rest and no exercise.

The bad news is that she is almost certainly out for the reminder of the jumps campaign which is a major blow to the jockey who made history in 2012-13 when she was the first female rider to be crowned champion conditional rider.

Racing in Scotland this week starts at Ayr on Monday and then the show heads on to Kelso on Sunday for Scottish Borders National day.

Both meetings will be staged behind closed closed doors with all the Covid bio protocols strictly adhered to.

Monday is the penultimate action of 2020 at Ayr and the feature race is the William Hill Extra Places Every day Novices’ Chase.

Looking at the entries Sandy Thomson’s Empire Steel, a comfortable chase debut scorer over 2m 4f at Ayr in October, and Olly Murphy’s Skandiburg, who was last of four on his bow over fences at Fakenham, the two that catch my eye at this early stage.

Due to the race been screened on ITV Racing, the Persimmon Homes Scottish Borders National has been moved from its original slot and is now the final race on Kelso’s big day.

With almost £40,000 up for grabs it should be another cracker over 4m 110yds and there is also a £16,000 pot on offer for the Mrs Ivan Straker Paris Pike Novices’ Chase over nearly three miles.

Viewers tuned into Racing TV and ITV should get a birds eye view of the action unfolding as I can reveal Kelso supremo Jonathan Garratt has invested in a drone from Racetech to maximise pictures from the borders venue.

I’ve seen camera shots from the high-flying drone from Musselburgh and Perth and I can confirm that they are fantastic and add a completely different dimension to the races and surrounding area.

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