Irish racing grieves for former top amateur, who has died at 41

A terrible shadow was cast over the Galway festival yesterday as Ireland's racing community mourned the death of John Thomas McNamara at the age of 41.

The former amateur died at home in Croom, County Limerick, in the presence of his family on Monday night. He had been treated at University Hospital Limerick last Friday for complications stemming from the dreadful injuries incurred when Galaxy Rock fell at the first in the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Handicap Chase at the 2013 Cheltenham Festival.

His injuries, regarded as life-threatening at the time, included fractures to the C3 and C4 vertebrae. Following initial treatment in Britain and then at the National Spinal Unit in Dublin's Mater Hospital, he underwent an intensive spell of rehabilitation at the North West Spinal Injuries Centre in Southport.