BILLY Lee is facing a longer spell on the sidelines than originally thought, following a fall during a race at Limerick last Saturday.

Lee broke his collarbone in the incident and it required surgery which he underwent on Wednesday. His agent Kevin O’Ryan told The Irish Field on Friday: “If it had been a clean break then four weeks is the usual recovery period. But an operation means that Billy will need more time to recover. He’s fine about it as it could have been worse. Broken bones will heal.”

Prior to the accident, Lee had looked to have a great chance of becoming champion jockey for the first time. He was within three winners of championship leader Colin Keane whose own title aspirations will be affected by his new retainer for Juddmonte.

Just last month Lee had two Royal Ascot winners, including the Paddy Twomey-trained Carmers whose long-term target is the St Leger at Doncaster.

The same Limerick incident resulted in a broken nose for talented apprentice Nicola Burns but she was back in action at Leopardstown on Thursday evening.