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After he claimed the Gold Cup on 25-1 outsider Cool Ground, the 20-year-old looked to have a golden future.

And Maguire has certainly gone on to achieve a great deal since, with numerous major successes.

But his failure to land the jockey's title, and a spectacular run of bad luck at Cheltenham that has seen him fail to win there since 1994, has cast a shadow over his career.

And now, on the eve of this year's Festival, Maguire has been ruled out after falling from Luzcadou in the Warwick National Crudwell Cup on Sunday.

Broken neck

It transpires, following a scan, that he has broken a bone in his neck and could be out for up to four months.

The 30-year-old knows what it is like to miss the season's biggest meeting, having been absent for three successive years between 1995 and 1997.

He missed the Festival in 1995 when his mother died, broke a collarbone the following year and suffered a broken arm in 1997.

Richard Dunwoody
Dunwoody beat Maguire to the jockeys' title in 1994
And there have been other low points, particularly when the jockeys' title eluded him in 1993-4 by just three winners - 197 to 194 - to Richard Dunwoody.

He also split from trainer David Nicholson in 1998, before teaming up with Ferdy Murphy.

But despite this, Maguire has more than proved himself to be a jockey of real class.

He rode Barton Bank to victory in the 1993 King George VI Chase, and took the Festival's Queen Mother Champion Chase a year later on Viking Flagship.

And in November, Maguire reached the milestone of 1,000 winners in British racing with victory on Fiori at Carlisle.

Small comfort

Colleague Tony Dobbin has described the Irishman's failure to capture the jockeys' title as "a travesty".

There is no shortage of respect for Maguire's ability, and Murphy calls him "the perfect stable jockey".

But none of this will be much comfort at the moment with the prospect of another Festival spent watching from afar.

Maguire was due to ride much-fancied Florida Pearl in Thursday's Gold Cup, as well as Paris Pike in next month's Martell Grand National.

"He deserves to be a champion jockey," said Dobbin.

And maybe a bit of luck at Cheltenham would not go amiss.