Mansell suffers setback to recovery

Jockey Jimmy Mansell has been transferred to the chest unit of the University Hospital in Galway after suffering a setback in his recovery from injuries sustained in a fall at Ballinrobe in August.

He had been recuperating in Castlebar Hospital in County Mayo after suffering serious head injuries in the incident before this setback.

But the Irish Turf Club’s medical officer Dr Walter Halley stressed it was not Mansell’s head injuries which were the cause of this latest hitch.

He said: “Jimmy has suffered a setback but it‘s related to his breathing and not to the head injuries suffered on the day. It‘s related to the trauma of the fall but it is to do with his chest.”

Mansell, the leading claimer in Ireland last season, is being monitored on a life-support machine at Galway Hospital.