Racing at Bellewstown was abandoned on Tuesday after the first two races on the card each saw heavy falls, with Irish champion jockey Dylan Browne McMonagle said to be facing “a number of weeks” on the sidelines after his mount, Mosel, came down in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Median Auction Maiden which kicked off proceedings.
Mosel was beginning to mount a challenge when she fell approaching the final furlong, with a delay then following as Browne McMonagle was initially tended to on the track, before ground staff began their remedial work in an attempt to make the surface fit for racing.
However, the second race on the card, division one of the Ploughman Bar & Grill Handicap, then saw two further fallers after the one-mile event eventually got underway 30 minutes later than scheduled. The riders of both horses involved in that incident, Ben Coen and Adam Caffrey, were quickly on their feet.
Officials subsequently took the decision to abandon the rest of the meeting, with a statement from the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) on X reading, “Having reviewed the footage and considered the observations, as well as the remedial work carried out following Race 1, the Raceday Stewards, in the interest of safety for both horse and rider, made the decision to abandon the remainder of the card under the provisions of Rule 10.”
Browne McMonagle has enjoyed a stunning year, notably completing an Oaks double courtesy of Epsom heroine Thundering On and Johanna Walsh, the winner of the Irish equivalent at the Curragh. On Saturday, he returned to the Curragh to complete a 723-1 fiver-timer, headlined by the victory of Green Empress in the G2 Debutante Stakes.
The 23-year-old currently trails Billy Lee by four winners in the Irish Flat jockeys' championship, but an extended period out of the saddle is likely to end his hopes of winning the title for the second consecutive year.
The extent of his injuries has not yet been disclosed, though he is expected to make a full recovery, according to Dr Jennifer Pugh, chief medical officer for the IHRB.
“Following his fall in the first race at Bellewstown, Dylan Browne McMonagle was transferred to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda,” said Pugh in a further statement issued by the IHRB on X.
“Dylan was conscious when leaving the racecourse and is recovering well in hospital this evening. He is very appreciative of the goodwill messages he has received since this afternoon.
“Dylan will be kept in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital overnight for further assessment and observation and will be out for a number of weeks but will make a full recovery.”
Emmet McNamara of the Irish Jockeys Association had earlier given an update on Browne McMonagle's condition to Racing TV, having reportedly been one of the first people on the scene after Mosel came down.
“I was down there with him soon after he got his fall and our thoughts are with him,” said McNamara. “Please God, everything will be fine. He was moving everything.
“It's horrible and it doesn't get any less frightening when you see someone like him on the ground like that. Obviously, he is one of the more high-profile riders in the weighing room, very well respected and very well liked as well. None of us are invincible and neither is Dylan. Please God, he will be okay.”
McNamara added of the abandonment, “The team at Bellewstown did as much as they possibly could, through sanding and trying rail realignments on the National Hunt ground where it was a little softer and maybe a little more traction on it.
“I think after two races, where there have been slips on the point of the bend, it kind of spoke for itself and it was taken out of everyone's hands that it had to be called off, unfortunately.
“It's disappointing for Bellewstown, but safety has to come first and, once confidence was lost in that point of the track, I think the sensible decision was taken in the end.”
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