Steve Drowne signs off in style at Lingfield with victory on his final ride

Steve Drowne could not have scripted it better himself, and the fist pump passing the post said it all.

Met By Moonlight, the 46-year-old's final ride, went to post with uninspiring form figures, but there was no shortage of optimism in her camp and she delivered in style, storming clear in the closing stages of Lingfield's last race of the year to provide a fairytale end to Drowne's 27-year career in the saddle.

As if that was not enough in itself, the filly, sent off at 6-1, is trained by veteran Ron Hodges, who had been instrumental in getting him going as a jockey all those years ago.

Drowne's delight was there for all to see when he brought Met By Moonlight with a strong run on the outer to collar favourite Shackled N Drawn in the closing stages of the 5f handicap, and plenty of racegoers stuck around to share his joy in the gathering gloom.

Steve Drowne is presented with a bottle of champagne by fellow jockeys before his final raceCredit: John Hoy

The six-time Group 1 winner, who partnered more than 1,400 winners in all and was presented with a bottle of champagne by his weighing room colleagues, said: "That was nice, wasn't it. Thanks to Ron, who said a fortnight ago that this could be my last ride. It's worked out great.

"Ron got me going after short spells with Chuck Spares and Richard Holder, and I rode some of those good sprinters of his like Hard To Figure. It's lovely to finish where we started. That will do me now."

Hodges, now 77, has a heart condition and is no longer a regular at the track, but he was not going to miss this one.

He said: "That's marvellous. Steve came to us as a young lad and rode a nice few winners for us. He'd ridden a few for me again lately and I thought this would be a nice one for him to finish on, so I gave him a call."

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Lingfield result