JOCKEY Gary Noonan has been airlifted to hospital after an awful fall that saw the horse roll over the top of him led to a huge delay to racing at Killarney.
The Irish rider was immediately attended to by racecourse medical personnel after coming down heavily from 80-1 Je Suis Celebre in the second race of the day at 2pm.
Jockey Gary Noonan was knocked out cold in the fall but was said to be conscious as he was put in the helicopter to be airlifted to hospital following a spill at Killarney
Noonan, who is from Limerick, was initially knocked out cold in the incident.
He took a while to come round while being seen to on the track – with a delay immediately called to all subsequent races.
Fortunately, Noonan had regained consciousness by the time he was transferred to the helicopter and flown to Cork University Hospital.
Racing was delayed almost an hour meaning the 2.35 was off at 3.30pm.
All subsequent races on the jumps card are expected to be delayed further.
Noonan was asking from his mount approaching the third-last in the two-mile hurdle when the Eoin McCarthy-trained outsider crumpled on landing.
The jockey was thrown forward from the saddle – and he was unable to get out of the way in time.
It looked like the four-year-old gelding, who was making his debut over hurdles, rolled over the top of Noonan due to the momentum of the fall.
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