Matt Dunn has a fractured skull, can't open his mouth properly and is banned from contact with horses for two months.

He reckons he is lucky.

Two weeks ago Dunn was kicked in the face by a thoroughbred and the trainer concedes the outcome could have been much worse.

"The first 24 hours they (medical staff) were a bit worried about a little bit of bleeding I had on the brain," Dunn said.

"They were thinking they might have to take a bit of bone out but after the bleeding settled and they determined it had stopped, they didn't worry too much."

The horse that caused the damage was former Sydney galloper Velrosso who will race for the first time since the incident in Saturday's Cardno Open Handicap at Doomben.

Dunn, who has opted to let his bones knit rather than undergo facial surgery, feels no hostility towards the recent stable recruit who he says is one of the kindest animals in his stable.

"That's the sort of thing you expect to happen from a baby or a horse who's difficult to deal with and Velrosso is none of those," Dunn said.

"It was just out of the blue. There's not a bad bone in Velrosso's body, he's one of the quietest horses I've ever seen."

Velrosso has raced twice for Dunn recording a fast-finishing third over 1200m at Doomben two starts ago and last-start fifth when stepped up to 1350m.

He has been brought back to the shorter trip on Saturday as Dunn looks to replicate the horse's first-up performance.

The trainer said a fast tempo was the key to Velrosso's chances and the horse should get that with natural front-runner Didntcostalot among his rivals.

"First-up he was dynamite and second-up he just wasn't sharp," Dunn said.

"I'm just wondering whether that first-up run, because he went into it a bit underdone, it just took a bit out of him and he raced flat second-up."

Velrosso has already proven he can kick and on Saturday he gets the chance to show Dunn he can make an impact on the racetrack too.