TWO of Ireland’s brightest young riders Michael O’Sullivan and Aidan Kelly are on the sidelines after suffering collarbone injuries.

The pair of Cheltenham Festival-winning conditional jockeys missed out on the Punchestown Festival, and O’Sullivan is expected to be out until July after undergoing surgery on a broken collarbone earlier this week.

A heavy fall at the second flight from even-money favourite Zaidi at Kilbeggan last week brought a premature end to what has been a breakthrough season for Barry Connell’s retained rider.

A total of 319 rides since turning professional in September made O’Sullivan the busiest rider in Ireland during that period with the exception of Darragh O’Keeffe.

“Missing Punchestown was frustrating but I suppose after that it’s not the worst time of year for something like this to happen either,” O’Sullivan told The Irish Field.

“I’m missing May and wouldn’t really have been able to ride in June; there’s a two-week break then and I wouldn’t be able to ride for the first two weeks anyway other than in any opportunity races. I’ll be looking forward to getting back later in the summer.”

Biggest winner

Kelly has been making a name for himself in Ireland this season and recorded the biggest winner of his career on the J.P. McManus-owned Iroko in last month’s Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle at Cheltenham.

His injury setback came in a fall at Tipperary last week from the ill-fated Itstimetomoveon, who came down at the last when in a winning position.

“I broke my collarbone but thankfully it’s not displaced and didn’t require surgery,” said Kelly.

“It’s not too bad a break. I’m going to head back for another x-ray in four weeks and hopefully it will have healed up nicely.

“It’s a pity to miss out on Punchestown but I’ve had a great season. It’s great to have had some nice winners for Mr McManus in my best season so far.”

Mark Walsh also missed rides at Punchestown yesterday after he was reported ‘sore’ from a fall off So Scottish.