McNamara aiming for Fairyhouse return Andrew McNamara hopes to be back in the saddle for the big “Hattons Grace” weekend meeting at Fairyhouse on December 3 and 4 having missed most of the past month with a neck injury. The Limerick rider was initially concussed and injured his neck when unseated from D's Trix, trained by his father and namesake, at Thurles on November 20. McNamara, currently sixth in the jump jockey's table on the 25 winner mark, was literally only back in action for 24 hours before taking a further heavy fall from Askanna in the Lismullen Hurdle at Navan on November 13. “It was unfortunate to have another fall at Navan having just got back the previous day at Naas but that's racing I suppose,” he reflected in typically laid-back fashion. “I hope to be back for the big meeting at Fairyhouse, although I'll have to get some physio in the meantime. My neck is still a bit stiff bit it's not too bad,” he added. Known to his friends and colleagues as Andy Mac, he attended yesterday's meeting at Cork sporting a moustache and goatee as part of the Movember fund-raising effort.
