Racing: Coleman joins list of absentees for season

Michael Coleman.

Space won't be at a premium in northern jockeys' rooms between now and the end of the season.

Michael Coleman is the latest to join the list of senior riders who are unlikely to be in action again in the current racing season, which concludes at the end of July.

The 47-year-old, who rode his 2000th New Zealand winner in August Edition on his home track at Matamata last month, recently underwent successful knee surgery.

"I had some repair work done and I'll probably take the rest of the season off," Coleman said. "That may change, but at this stage I'm not in any hurry to get back."

Opie Bosson, Craig Grylls, Leith Innes and Jason Waddell are other senior northern jockeys who will be absent until the 2017-18 season.

Bosson hasn't ridden since he was stood down on Queensland Derby day with a viral infection and is booked to leave at the end of this month on a European holiday, as is Leith Innes, who copped a 12-day suspension for his ride on Counterattack in the Stradbroke Handicap, compounded by a four-day ban for careless riding at Ruakaka.

Grylls is on holiday in Tahiti and on his return will be taking up a three-month contract in Singapore.

Waddell's season was prematurely ended by a trackwork fall in April, after which he opted to bring forward surgery to remove a plate and screws in his leg from a soccer injury more than a year ago.

In other jockey news, Matt Cameron is on a three-week break and apprentice Rachael Goldsbury has a three-week stint in Queensland.

Other riders with overseas ventures are Danielle Johnson, who will participate in an international female jockeys' series in Sweden next month, and Cameron Lammas, who has accepted an invitation to ride at two meetings in Inner Mongolia.

- NZ Racing Desk