Adrian Maguire's Cheltenham jinx has struck again after it emerged he had suffered serious injuries in a fall at Warwick on Saturday which have ruled him out of action for at least three months.
The jockey broke a bone in his neck when he came off the Ferdy Murphy-trained Luzcadou seven from home in the Warwick National Crudwell Cup.
He was taken to Warwick General Hospital immediately after the incident and underwent a scan last night.
"He's broken his neck," Murphy revealed today. "He's having an operation this evening and I think he'll be out for three or four months.
"He's having the operation this evening and we'll see how it goes from there."
He sat out the 1995 Festival after his mother died, only to miss the meeting a year later after breaking a collar bone and a broken arm saw him on the sidelines in 1997.
Maguire had a number of quality rides lined up for this year's Festival, including Florida Pearl in the Tote Cheltenham Gold Cup, and was a 25-1 chance to be leading jockey at the meeting.
PA