Jockey Hayley Turner suffers broken ankle in fall

Turner is having her most successful season in the saddle

Britain's leading female flat jockey Hayley Turner faces a spell on the sidelines after suffering a broken ankle in a fall at Bath on Wednesday.

The 28-year-old was on her way to the starting stalls for the day's second race when her mount Rose Aurora appeared to jink in front of the stands rail, and dumped her to the ground.

The filly reared up and landed on the dual Group One-winning rider.

Turner was thought to have bad bruising but went to hospital for x-rays.

She tweeted: "Oh dear, I have a broken ankle, gutted!!"

Her boss Michael Bell said: "She will have an operation tomorrow [Thursday], which is a real shame as the season was going so well for her.

"I suppose it is part and parcel of being a jockey, it's just the timing of it - she was absolutely flying. She has had a fantastic season.

"But she's bounced back from a worse injury in the past and she will certainly bounce back again."

Britain's leading female jockey, who has ridden 83 winners so far this season, has been enjoying the most successful spell of her career, riding her first two Group One winners on Dream Ahead in the July Cup and the Bell-trained at York's Ebor Festival.

In March 2009, she was out of action for four months after being knocked unconscious on the Newmarket gallops when her horse broke a leg in a stalls accident.