Fanning ‘fine’ but facing brief layoff after Wolverhampton KO

Ashley Iveson
February 27, 2024 11:19 am

Oisin Murphy suspended following tight finish at Midlands track.

Joe Fanning is set for a short spell on the sidelines after being knocked out in a fall at Wolverhampton on Monday night that led to three-time champion jockey Oisin Murphy being hit with a nine-day ban.

Fanning and his mount Sennockian passed the post a nose in front of the Murphy-ridden Dr Foster in an extended one-mile handicap at Dunstall Park, but was unseated just after the winning line.

The 53-year-old regained consciousness prior to leaving the track, but was taken to hospital for precautionary tests before later returning home.

“Joe is fine. He had precautionary scans on his head and everything at New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton and they came back clear,” said his agent Niall Hannity.

“He got home late last night and I spoke to him this morning and he is fine.

“I’m not sure how long he’ll be out for. He’ll have to pass a baseline concussion test and it will be up to Dr Jerry Hill when he’ll be able to take that.

“We’ll see how he is in the next day or two, but he obviously won’t be riding this weekend or next week, I wouldn’t have thought.”

A stewards’ enquiry was called to consider the placings after several incidents of interference in the home straight.

The stewards ruled that Fanning had not committed any riding offences and that the placings should remain unaltered, but Murphy was found guilty of careless riding.

A stewards’ report read: “Murphy was suspended for nine days as he allowed his mount to drift approximately two horse widths right-handed away from the whip causing interference to Sennockian, before then using the whip again in the left hand whereupon his mount shifted further right-handed causing interference to Sennockian, with Fanning being unseated after the line.”

Murphy will be out of action on March 11 and 12 and from March 18 to 24, meaning he is set to miss the first weekend of the British Flat turf season at Doncaster.