The long-term view is I will be OK Mick Fitzgerald

The rider, who has won the Cheltenham Gold Cup and Grand National, was injured at Market Rasen on 16 July.

He was taken to Lincoln Hospital, and was initially thought to have broken his shoulder blade.

But the true extent of the injury - which could take four months to repair - was only discovered when he requested a MRI scan.

Fitzgerald has enjoyed several big-race triumphs, including the 1996 National on Rough Quest and the Gold Cup three years later with See More Business.

He is one of only nine jump jockeys to have ridden more than 1,000 winners in his career.

But the rider, who is stable jockey for Nicky Henderson and a close friend of champion jockey Tony McCoy, has endured a number of injuries in recent years.

An ankle problem kept him out for five months in 2003 while he also broke his arm in 2004.

Although aged 35, Fitzgerald is planning a return to the saddle.

"Without being over-dramatic, I've broken my neck," he told the Daily Telegraph.

"The long-term view is that I'll be OK and that I'll be no more at risk than anybody else when riding.

"The surgeon has taken a bone graft from my pelvis and has inserted rods. He hasn't really given me a timescale on when I will be back riding, but I will be wearing a brace from four to eight weeks."