Eighteen-year-old Gearoid Doyle, brother to leading handlers Sean and Donnchadh, was forced to undergo surgery on his neck last week after suffering a fractured and crushed vertebrae in a fall at home.
The Wexford native is now at home recovering after his seven hour operation at the Mater Hospital in Dublin.
Doyle made a big name for himself last season emerging as one of the new young riders to follow when notching up seven winners in his first season of race-riding, leaving him third behind in the Novice Riders table behind joint-winners Liam Quinlan and Shane Fitzgerald.
It proved to be a day to remember for the Doyle family last February at Ballinaboola as it was older brother Sean who supplied Gearoid with his first career success aboard Fighfiretwithfire last February at Ballinaboola with plenty of his family and friends watching-on on that day as he received a warm welcome back into the winners' enclosure.
Gearoid struck-up a successful partnership with Fightfirewithfire, as the son of Firebreak would supply him with a further two victories in winners' company at Tinahely and Monksgrange.
With older brothers Sean and Donnchadh, two of the leading producers of four-year-old point-to-pointers, they have been able to provide Gearoid with some nice mounts in the younger maiden division, and despite his relative inexperience he has certainly not let them down, winning his four-year-old maiden at Horse and Jockey in April.
That winner, Cracking Destiny, was subsequently sold to Highflyer Bloodstock for £100,000 at the Tattersalls Ireland Cheltenham Festival Sale.
Best wishes to Gearoid in his recovery from the fall.
