Grand National winner airlifted to hospital

Grand National winning jockey Ryan Mania was today airlifted to hospital after a fall in a race at Hexham, only a day after his victory at Aintree.

The Scotsman, who steered Auroras Encore to a famous 66-1 success, was linking up once again with trainer Sue Smith in the St John Lee Handicap Hurdle.

However, his mount Stagecoach Jasper came down early on the final circuit.

Some 25 minutes after the race, the 23-year-old Mania was still being attended to on the track by medics.

With the covers up, there was a delay to racing following the arrival of the air ambulance.

Mania was riding at Hexham just hours after posing for photographs with Auroras Encore at his stables in West Yorkshire.

The jockey had to leave the photocall at Mrs Smith’s stables near Bingley before the horse’s traditional trip to the local pub in order to get to the Hexham meeting on time.

According to some reports Mania suffered a heavy kick to his shoulder when his horse fell in the 3.10 race.

Mania was seen being put into the air ambulance on a spinal board before being taken to hospital after what appeared to be a kick between his shoulder blades.

He was described as very sore before going to Newcastle Royal Victoria Infirmary for further assessment on neck and back injuries.

Mania was reported to be in a stable condition.

Clerk of the course James Armstrong said: “All I can say at the moment is he’s conscious and talking and he is being taken to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle for further assessment.

“Hopefully all will be fine but we won’t have any more news until later.”