National-winning jockey ‘in high spirits’ after fall

The 23-year-old, who was airlifted to hospital in Newcastle after the fall at Hexham on Sunday, had been due to have a second MRI scan yesterday afternoon but the check was put back until this morning.

Under the Twitter hashtag “could be worse”, he tweeted: “In hospital for another night. Getting bored now. Thanks again for all the messages of support.”

Doctors are checking whether Mania, who rode 66-1 outside Auroras Encore to National glory for Bingley’s Sue and Harvey Smith, suffered a hairline fracture to one of his vertebrae when he was kicked by a horse.

Mania had ridden Sue Smith’s 66-1 outsider Auroras Encore to the biggest win of his life on Saturday, the Bingley trainer telling the Yorkshire Post: “All is well. He is not as badly injured as people feared, but they can’t take any chances.”

Mania’s mother Lesley also gave a positive update from Kelso racecourse where her son had been due to compete yesterday.

“He’s a wee bit sore and fed up. His spirits are quite high,” she said. “I’m more than happy with what I’ve heard.”

Mrs Mania admitted it had been a rollercoaster 48 hours, describing the experience as surreal. “I was watching the race on the TV when he fell off. He’s had a lot of falls and to be caught by a horse behind him, it’s scary.

“You can’t do anything until you hear something. That euphoria of the National win is still there – it’s just been surreal.”