Meanwhile another top jockey who is on the sidelines, Kevin Shea, has undergone a back operation and is recovering in hospital.

Marcus(pictured) was substituted by Piere Strydom aboard Act Of War in the Gr 2 Selangor Cup and the horse’s reputation as the best three-year-old male in the country was enhanced after his impressive win in that race.

However, Strydom revealed over the weekend that he will remain loyal to the Paul Lafferty-trained Harry’s Son for the Cape Guineas.

This leaves the ride on Act Of War vacant.

The favourites to fill it are likely to be Bernard Fayd’Herbe and Sean Cormack, both of whom have been called on regularly by the Ramsden yard during the current Cape Summer Of Champions Season.

Shea was looking forward to a good season before being struck down by excruciating back pain at the beginning of September. This turned out to be a “bulged C3 vertebra” which was causing one of the discs to touch a nerve. Fortunately, scans showed no damage to the nerves and after a program of rehabilitation he was back in the saddle on October 12. Despite riding a double on the Greyville polytrack a week later on two classy Charles Laird-trained three-year-olds, Rich Girl and Thirtytwosquadron, he was back on the sidelines less than a week later with the same back pain. This time it was shown to be a bulged vertebra lower down. The cause of these problems is simply due to wear and tear after 37 years in the saddle. Shea was initially confident that he would overcome the setback again through a program of strengthening the core area of the body as well as the ligaments near the vertebra. However, he eventually had to agree to the back operation, which was always going to be the last resort between himself and his sports medicine consultant, the former Sharks team doctor, Craig Springate.

He said from his hospital bed over the weekend Sunday, “I am lucky that we did decide to have the operation as the surgeon said that my back was a mess. There was more damage than the MRI scan and the X-rays had shown. The one vertebra was collapsing and new discs have had to be put in. It is going to be a long way back as there is a big adjustment. I will virtually have to learn to walk again. I have taken one or two steps, but am walking like a new born giraffe! The pain is absolutely excruciating, but one would expect to have to deal with that for a spinal injury in which they have had to cut through the muscles.”

Shea said he would love to return to the saddle, but had not yet discussed his riding future with any medical experts.

The operation was performed by a neurosurgeon and an orthopaedic surgeon and was watched by Springate, so he is in good hands.

He will be in hospital for about another week and concluded, “I am hoping to have a good 2015.”

His riding statistics for the season are 8 wins from just 50 rides for a strike rate of 16% and most race fans will be hoping to see his sublime big race skills as usual in next year’s Champions Season.