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The 'breaks' certainly didn’t go Jason Attard’s way on Tuesday!

The Hawkesbury trainer’s 30th birthday celebrations at the weekend must have seemed a distant memory when he was involved in a nasty spill whilst riding trackwork on the B grass on Tuesday morning.

Attard was riding an unraced two-year-old, giving him an educational piece of work at nothing more than three-quarter pace when he stumbled near the winning post.

Attard was taken to Nepean Hospital and later released, though nursing a “pretty sore” right collarbone, which had sustained a number of breaks.

“My wife Lucy was riding work beside me, and it gave her quite a fright,” Attard said. “My first instinct was to look after the horse. The adrenalin was flowing I guess, and I got back on my feet.”

Attard praised other Hawkesbury trainers and staff who rushed to the scene to lend assistance: “I’m extremely grateful for everyone’s quick response,” he said. “They stopped what they were doing to help. It shows there is a great team spirit out here.”

Attard will see Racing NSW’s Dr David Duckworth next week to determine whether he will require surgery to have a metal plate/s inserted in his injured collarbone. Until he regains full use of his right arm, he will be relying on his wife to “steer the ship”.

“I have every confidence in Lucy; she knows what she is doing,” he said. The day didn’t improve for Attard, who had to sit at home and watch on the couch as his sole representative, the well-backed My Milly Moo ($4.60), could finish only seventh to Nacho Libre in the Beards Of Hope Class 2 Handicap (1600m) at his home track meeting.

It was subsequently revealed that the front gates of the mare’s barrier had been slow to open, and she lost some ground. However, My Milly Moo’s rider Tim Clark afterwards told stewards that his mount had travelled only satisfactorily thereafter and failed to respond when put under pressure. He said she raced flat.

Ever positive, Attard is hoping for better fortune at Scone’s two-day carnival later this week, and is keen to secure a berth with Reiby The Red in Friday’s $200,000 Scone Cup (1600m). Jeff Penza will ride him if he makes the field. He will also start Reiby Rampart in Saturday’s $150,000 Luskin Star Stakes (1300m).