Matt O'Connor was taken to hospital after he was knocked unconscious after a bad fall at Thurles.

The conditional jockey, who is attached to Colm Murphy's stable, came to grief aboard Walkin Aisy at the fifth-last of the Templemore Beginners Chase, won by Merveilles

Murphy, who also trains Walkin Aisy, said: "Matt is still unconscious, but stable, and will be kept overnight in Clonmel Hospital.

"He will be having scans to see what the next step will be."< Clarkey beat off the challenge of Alexander Seaview to take top honours in the Holy Cross Maiden Hurdle.

The 6-1 chance, sporting blinkers for the first time, travelled well throughout the two-and-a-quarter-mile heat and galloped all the way to the line to score by two and a half lengths under Alan Crowe.

Trainer Christy Roche said: "We put blinkers on him the other day and I thought he went slower but desperate men do desperate things because he looked like a good horse at one stage."

Tom Taaffe's Knocklayde Vic (5-2) opened his account over obstacles with a decisive victory in the Urlingford Maiden Hurdle.

Taaffe said: "He is out of a half-sister to Merry Gale. I don't think he'll run again this season and he'll go chasing next term. He handled the better ground there which is great."< Annual Report stayed on strongly from the final flight to get off the mark for his career in the Clonoulty Handicap Hurdle.

Never far off the pace under Niall Madden, top-weight Tooman Lane came to lay down a challenge in the straight, but Annual Report fought well to secure a two-and-a-half-length victory.

Winning trainer Michael Cullen said: "It must have been due to the better ground because he surprised me there. He'll go for another handicap now."

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