Racing: Maguire misses Festival with broken neck

Adrian Maguire's Cheltenham jinx has struck again after it emerged he broke his neck in a fall at Warwick on Saturday and is ruled out 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 on Saturday.

"He's broken his neck," Murphy said.

"He's having an operation this evening and I think he'll be out for three or four months."

He sat out the 1995 Festival after his mother died, missed 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.