Sport can sometimes be so unkind.

Sportsmen are known to put themselves through a lot of risk in their pursuit for success. Consider the high-risk business of motorsport, the brutally demonstrative sport of boxing, or even cricket for that matter which possesses a dark factor inextricably linked with the art of fast bowling.

And then there is horse racing, which hinges on a jockey’s athletic ability and relationship with the horse. The pursuit for success can also sometimes be a sportsman’s world enemy, as he or she habitually exposes himself to potential injury. And when it does strike it can really hurt.

I’m sure that three-time British champion jockey Ryan Moore will concur with my conviction as he convalesces from a nasty accident that has robbed him of another shot at the title and cut him down when he was in his prime.

Ryan is a man with a quiet disposition, but once in the saddle he is capable of inflicting the heaviest defeat on his rivals. His actions speak louder than words.

But the silent one is still drawing a lot of attention as he recovers from the neck injury he sustained at Newmarket last week, an injury that could have been a lot worse than it already is. Ryan’s mount, Newton’s Law, reared up in the stalls prior to the start of race in which he was the favourite, hurling his rider into the metal frame.

At the time it had looked back, there was even talk of Ryan have damaged his vertebrae. However, subsequent MRI scans at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge allayed the worst fears and ruled out any critical damage.

But he has been advised rest by his doctors fueling all sports of speculation about his return to the saddle. Ryan has been in the form of his life this season, riding one big race winner after another. His 51 wins for the term, highlighted by the dual wins of Gleneagles in the English and Irish 2,000 Guineas and St. James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot, saw his odds shortening as the odds-on favourite to win a fourth title.

However, the Newmarket injury has not just dealt him a threatening physical blow, it has also effectively stripped him of all hopes of challenging for the title – a race that has now been thrown wide open to the likes of ex-Godolphin pilot Silvestre de Sousa, veteran Richard Hughes, former two-time champion Paul Hanagan, and the Godolphin duo of James Doyle and William Buick.

Perhaps, Ryan is not too fussed about losing out on the championship, but he must be itching to get back into the saddle given the fact that he has been having so much at the big riding festivals in Newmarket, Newbury and Ascot.

For the short term, he will have to watch the £1.15 million (Dh6.6 million) King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes, next Saturday’s big race at Ascot, and the following week’s Glorious Goodwood Festival on his flat screen television at his home.

But time heals and so will Ryan’s injury and disappointment. We can only wish him well and hope that the injury will not take the shine off what has been a landmark season for the outstanding rider, who not so many years, was first making heads turn as stable jockey to Satish Seemar’s Zabeel Stables in Dubai.