Pat Eddery has suffered a back injury after his mount, Heinsberg, slipped up and fell in the Austrian Derby at Freudenau, Vienna, yesterday. A spokeswoman for the racecourse said: "Pat Eddery's mount slipped and this caused three others in the race to fall. He was taken away by helicopter."

Heinsberg's fall triggered off a chain reaction with Burundi, Autocrat and Quite Regal, all parting company with their jockeys. None of the three other riders, including Tony Garth, is believed to be seriously hurt.

Eddery's agent Mike Hawkett said: "He went to hospital as a precaution and hopefully everything seems quite fine with him and he will be coming home tomorrow."

The racecourse spokeswoman later added of Eddery: "He suffered a back injury and is being kept in hospital for observation but should be alright to fly home tomorrow."

Damiano, the German raider, won the classic from Peak Performance (Olivier Peslier). Peslier (Dark n'Sharp) and Garth (Stormrider) had earlier gained respective successes in the Internationale Meile and the Internationaler Sprint Preis.