Jack Kennedy suffers broken leg after Dallas Des Pictons unseat at Leopardstown

Jack Kennedy's season suffered a huge blow shortly after he had partnered Delta Work to victory in the Irish Gold Cup with the jockey suffering a broken leg after unseating on Dallas Des Pictons.

The unfortunate spill came just over half an hour after the rider and his boss Gordon Elliott were jubilant in claiming a first Irish Gold Cup on Delta Work in a superb finish from Kemboy and Presenting Percy.

The rider was out for over a month with a collarbone injury sustained at Punchestown in October and the latest setback leaves the jockey facing an uphill struggle to return in time for the major spring festivals, with the Cheltenham Festival just over six weeks away.

He was also runner-up on Easywork in the Grade 1 Chanelle Pharma Novice Hurdle and third on Column Of Fire in the William Fry Handicap Hurdle at Leopardstown on Sunday.

It was a fourth leg fracture for the luckless 20-year-old, who has 22 top-level victories to his name and first burst on to the scene with an unlikely success on the mercurial Labaik in the 2017 Supreme Novices' Hurdle.

Further Cheltenham Festival success followed in 2018 with the likes of Samcro, Shattered Love and Farclas striking in Grade 1 contests.

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