Jockey Duran Fentiman suffers broken leg in incident that led to Pontefract abandoning Thursday's fixture

The injury suffered by jockey Duran Fentiman on Thursday, which caused the abandonment of racing at Pontefract, has been confirmed as a broken leg. 

Fentiman was nearly at the start for the fourth race, the mile novice for two-year-olds, when he parted company with newcomer Cangofar.

He was treated by medical staff before being taken to hospital in Leeds, where he is to undergo surgery on Friday having broken his tibia and fibula.

Speaking on Friday morning, Fentiman's agent Paul Brierley said: "I've just spoken to him and he's a bit tired and groggy. He didn't get much sleep last night as it was a painful and stressful incident.

"He's all set to have his operation this morning. It's not a straightforward leg break and he's disappointed, but at the same time he knows he's going to get it sorted."

Racing at Pontefract was delayed by an hour following the incident before a decision was made to call off the remaining four races, with it being too late to get a replacement ambulance. The novice race had been due off at 3.45pm and the ambulance did not start moving until past 4.20pm.

Brierley said: "The delay was due to the medical staff making Duran comfortable and pain free, so his leg was stable enough that he could travel. 

"I don't know whether the horse jinked at something but it didn't come down on top of him or anything like that. When he landed, his leg just broke."

Fentiman, who recently rode his 400th winner, was on course for one of his best seasons with 21 winners on the board. He had been booked for rides for his main supporter Tim Easterby at Haydock on Friday and Saturday.

"I've had hundreds and hundreds of messages, including from owners, trainers and jockeys, and Duran would like to pass on his thanks to everybody," Brierley added.

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