Jack Kennedy will miss the Cheltenham Festival after suffering a broken leg at Leopardstown on Sunday.

Kennedy was injured in a race that came just half an hour after winning the Irish Gold Cup on Delta Work; He ill-fatedly was unseated from the Gordon Elliott-trained Dallas Des Pictons - the highs and lows that come alongside being a national hunt jockey.

He was attended to by racecourse medics, then taken to St Vincent’s Hospital for an X-ray and further assessment on his right leg, with the disastrous news later confirmed later by senor racecourse doctor Jennifer Pugh affirming; “Jack has had surgery on his leg this morning and thankfully that went well. Regrettably, at this stage the timing will mean Jack will miss the entire Cheltenham festival.

The twenty-year-old broke his collarbone in October last year, and he was feasibly riding as well as he ever has been since his comeback, oozing confidence - this is terrible blow for him and the Gordon Elliott team nevertheless on the scale of things he will live to fight another day; it’s just a bit of bad luck for the gifted jockey. A broken leg is not ideal, but it could have been worse as we all know far too well the vast risks implicated with being a jockey.

Better days await Kennedy.