Broderick in critical condition in Mater

SHANE Broderick is in a critical condition in the intensive care unit of the Mater hospital. The 22-year-old jockey is reported to be on a life support machine and to have severe neck injuries after his tall from Another Deadly at Fairyhouse on Monday.

Tom Doran, the owner of top steeplechaser Dorans Pride, visited the stricken jockey in hospital yesterday and said: "Shane was conscious and knew me when I went in to him. His spinal chord is not severed hut it is damaged and at the moment he has no movement from the neck down."

A statement from the Turf Club said that Broderick was transferred on Monday from Blanchardstown hospital, where he recovered consciousness after the fall, to the Mater and a full assessment and prognosis will not be known for some time.

The medical team treating Broderick are currently waiting for the severe bruising and swelling to lessen before they can say for certain what the outlook for Broderick is.

Fairyhouse was plunged into gloom as details of Broderick's condition filtered through to the track yesterday and the jockeys room was shocked and subdued. There had been anxiety in the immediate aftermath of the fall but Broderick's condition worsened in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

"This drives home just how dangerous the job can be," said former champion jockey Richard Dunwoody. "We hope he will be back very soon."

Broderick, from Lorrha, near Nenagh in Co Tipperary was due to ride Dorans Pride in yesterday's Power Gold Cup. Dorans Pride is the horse that has highlighted Broderick's rise to the top of the jockeys tree in the last three years.

In 1995, the partnership won the Stayers Hurdle at Cheltenham and last month finished third in the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

It has been a quick and spectacular rise for Broderick who started his career in pony racing, winning the prestigious Dingle Derby. He started his racing cared proper with Co Galway trainer Ger Lynch before moving to Tony Redmond. He joined his current main trainer Michael Hourigan four years ago.