Maximilian, one of last season’s leading novice hurdlers, will miss the entirety of the current campaign due to injury.

The seven-year-old has won five of his seven starts to date for trainer Donald McCain and the Owners Group and was last seen finishing second in Grade One company at Aintree.

The form of that race could hardly have worked out better, with the winner Apple Away, third-placed Iroko and fourth home Stay Away Fay all making the mark over fences this term, and Maximilian himself was due to embark on a novice chasing campaign before injury intervened.

Connections had initially he hoped he would return to competitive action early in the new year, but have now had to draw stumps for the season.

“Unfortunately he won’t be back until next autumn,” said the owners’ racing manager Dan Downie.

“It’s obviously frustrating, but the main thing is he’ll be fine and it’s one of those things really.

“It would have been interesting to see how he got on, but hopefully we’ll have a much more positive conversation in a year’s time.”

Maximilian’s novice chasing career is temporarily on hold, with the seven-year-old set to miss the first part of the season through injury.

Trained by Donald McCain, Maximilian built up a fine reputation as a staying novice hurdler last season winning three times, including when scooping Grade Two honours in Doncaster’s River Don Novices’ Hurdle.

He finished second to Apple Away in the Sefton Novices’ Hurdle at Aintree on his final start of the campaign, with impressive Warwick scorer Iroko and Cheltenham Festival winner Stay Away Fay behind in third and fourth respectively and was due to embark on a novice chasing campaign this term.

Having seen Storm Babet curtail plans for a chasing bow at Carlisle, Maximilian’s season has now met with further interruption after suffering a setback which will keep him sidelined.

“He’s picked up an injury so he won’t be out for a few months,” said Dan Downie of Owners Group, to whom Maximilian belongs.

“It’s not a big thing, but he will need some time off, so it’s just frustrating really.

“He will come back at some point and it will just be a case of giving him time. I’m not too sure on the timescale exactly. He definitely won’t be out in the next few months.

“The plan was to go novice chasing with him and I think that would still be the plan.”