Michael Walker faces a third round of surgery on his badly broken right leg on Tuesday as the ex-pat Kiwi comes to terms with a projected prolonged absence from the saddle.

Walker underwent emergency surgery on Thursday night to relieve pressure on his broken leg after a fall at Pakenham. He had further surgery on Sunday and is booked to again go under the knife on Tuesday.

His manager Liam Prior said Sunday’s surgery went ‘as well as it could have’ but the jockey’s leg remains cut open between his ankle and knee, with surgeons to complete the procedure on the broken bone on Tuesday.

The popular 37-year-old rider, who has also torn his ACL, has been told he faces a minimum 12 months’ rehabilitation before he can compete in the saddle again.

Prior said Walker is in good spirits despite his ordeal but understands the long road he faces to return to race riding.

Walker took what initially seemed to be an innocuous tumble from Insaaf at about the 500-metre mark of the final event on Thursday night before being rushed to the Dandenong Hospital.

Stewards at Pakenham opened an inquiry into the incident but after interviewing three riders, adjourned it for a time to be fixed so as to hear evidence from Walker.