Conor O'Dwyer misses out on the prized ride on Native Upmanship in tomorrow's £110,000 Hennessy Gold Cup due to a rib injury he picked up last weekend.
O'Dwyer, who was also looking forward to riding Well Ridden in the £70,000 PJ Moriarty Novice chase, tore muscles from two ribs when taking a fall at Fairyhouse last Sunday and now faces a spell on the sidelines until next weekend.
The jockey, who won the 1996 Hennessy on Imperial Call, cried off a schooling session at Arthur Moore's yard yesterday morning and Moore's second jockey Barry Cash steps in for the Native Upmanship and Well Ridden rides.
"I had a fall from There's No Doubt at Fairyhouse last weekend and although it hurt, I thought it was just soreness. But the day after it wasn't better so I went to Dr Fred Kenny who X-rayed my ribs," O'Dwyer said yesterday.
"I missed out Thurles on Thursday to give myself time but I was due to school two for Arthur this morning and after the first one I knew I was in bother. Fred tells me there is nothing I can do except give myself plenty of rest and I'm aiming to be back next weekend."
Meanwhile, some racegoers travelling to Leopardstown from the south tomorrow can expect to add at least 30 minutes to their journey due to road construction work.
The route to the racecourse past the Lamb Doyles pub will be closed to traffic for the weekend and traffic from Marley Park will be diverted to the Ballinteer Road and the Sandyford Road.
The Leopardstown executive expect a crowd of up to 17,000 to attend the Hennessy Gold Cup meeting tomorrow.
