Multiple Grade One winning rider Jack Kennedy suffered a broken leg at Naas on Sunday with the current top jockey in Ireland now in a race against time to get fit for the Cheltenham festival in March.
The number one rider for Gordon Elliott with the retirement of Davy Russell and the ability he has shown over the last five years, the 23 year old was riding Top Bandit in the Rathmore Stud Irish EBF Novice Chase taking on Appreciate It for the second time this season when the horse took a fatal fall and in the process saw Kennedy suffer a nasty broken leg.
Kennedy was stretchered off the track and transferred to Tallaght Hospital for further assessment, with his retained trainer initially saying the injury didn't look good and on Monday it was revealed that had suffered a fracture to the lower part of his leg.
🗣️ "We're not going to have him for the foreseeable future."
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) January 8, 2023
Gordon Elliott provides Gary O'Brien with the latest news on Jack Kennedy, who suffered a leg injury from a fall @NaasRacecourse pic.twitter.com/liRvEXdyik
The jockey was currently leading the race to be Irish Champion rider this season but will now have to watch on from the sidelines.
His agent Kevin O'Ryan said: “It looks like it’s a fracture of his lower leg and he’ll go and see a surgeon in a couple of days.
“It’s a big blow, but it could always be worse.”
When asked how long he felt Kennedy might be out for, O’Ryan added: “How long is a piece of string? Everybody heals differently.
“He’ll be doing his damnedest to be back as quickly as possible, but how long that will be, nobody knows.”
The Cheltenham festival is now just over nine weeks away.