Racing at Bellewstown was cancelled on Tuesday evening following fallers in the opening two flat races.

In the first race leading jockey Dylan Browne McMonagle was thrown to the ground when his mount appeared to suffer a serious leg injury in the closing stages. The rider was described as "conscious and talking" when taken to hospital in Drogheda. Later on Tuesday evening, the IHRB released a statement saying that the 23-year-old "will be out for a number of weeks but will make a full recovery."

There was another incident in that race which led to riders Billy Lee and Rory Cleary reporting to the acting stewards that they were concerned about the top bend, roughly four furlongs from the finish. The jockeys requested that the area in question be sanded and the stewards ordered that remedial work be carried out.

There was a 30-minute delay before the second race where another incident four furlongs out saw both Ben Coen and Adam Caffrey on the deck.

This led to a stewards' enquiry which was attended by a delegation of riders, trainers and racing officials. Having considered the observations of those stakeholders, the stewards made the decision to abandon the remainder of the card.

There was a large attendance as admission on Tuesday evening was free, sponsored by the Irish National Professional Bookmakers Association, as part of the track's 300th anniversary celebrations. Among the invited guests present were three Government ministers and the chief executives of both Horse Racing Ireland and the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board.

Emmet McNamara said: “The team at Bellewstown did as much as they possibly could through sanding and trying rail realignments on the National Hunt ground where it was a little softer and maybe a little more traction on it.

“I think after two races where there have been slips on the point of the bend it kind of spoke for itself and it was taken out of everyone’s hands that it had to be called off unfortunately.”

He added: “It’s disappointing for Bellewstown, but safety has to come first and once confidence was lost in that point of the track, I think the sensible decision was taken in the end.”

Bellewstown is due to stage a jumps card on Wednesday.