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Natalya Irvine, who won last season’s novice women’s championship, will miss the rest of the season after her jaw was broken.

Irvine, 21, suffered the injury when she was kicked in the face while leading a horse in from a field. The incident happened within hours of riding another winner, her eighth in succession, on Blazing Tom, the horse that guided her to last season’s championship. At that time Warwickshire-based Tom Ellis trained Blazing Tom and Irvine was employed at the yard, but she recently returned nearer to her parents’ home in Catterick and Blazing Tom – who is owned by her father Stephen – joined trainer Sandra Barker at Yarm near Stockton on Tees.

The plan was to run Blazing Tom at Corbridge on Easter Monday, although Irvine faced a struggle to retain her novices’ title before the injury blow. She is level with Olive Nicholls on five winners, one behind Ellie Callwood and three behind Rosie Howarth