Peter Robl sidelined for six months

By Mandy Cottell

SYDNEY, Jan 29 AAP - Peter Robl will be out of the saddle for at least six months and will have tests in July to determine whether he ever returns to race riding.

The popular jockey saw a specialist on Wednesday and was told he would need to wait until the middle of the year for an MRI scan to determine his riding future.

"Depending on how my spine has healed that will be a yay or nay as to whether I can ride again," Robl said from Warwick Farm on Wednesday.

"I've only got 60 per cent strength in my legs and arms. The spine will take six months to heal, the question is whether I get my strength back."

Robl suffered bruising to his spinal cord when he was thrown from a bucking horse in a race at Scone earlier this month.

Initially, he was expected to be sidelined for at least three months but that timeline has doubled following consultation with a specialist at Sydney's St Vincent's Hospital this week.

He is keeping a hand in the industry by helping trainer Anthony Cummings - one of his biggest supporters - to clock horses at trackwork a few mornings a week.

Robl said that job got off to a shaky start when he forgot to push the button on his stopwatch.

The ever-positive Robl has been riding for 24 years but he is philosophical about the future.

He hopes to resume his career in the saddle but accepts he could have ridden his last race.

"The specialist said it's 50-50. Some heal, some don't. You just don't know."