Report: Ripon, Saturday

William Hill Great St Wilfrid Stakes (Handicap) 6f, 3yo+

Pepper Lane secured back-to-back victories in the Great St Wilfrid under a confident Daniel Tudhope ride.
 
The David O'Meara-trained 20-1 chance, utilising a hood for the first time, had not been in the first five home since winning the race last year but ran out an authoritative winner back at sunny Ripon.

The winner came down the far side but neither side seemed particularly favoured and veteran ten-year-old Tax Free finished second on the stands-side rail.

Bosun Breese and Lexi's Hero led the far and near-side groups respectively in the early stages, but Pepper Lane broke for the line early and had enough pace to see off Tax Free, the only rival that threatened after Tudhope went for home.

It was a superb return to form for the five-year-old winner, who had only beaten one home in three races this season, most recently finishing last of 28 after missing the break in the Wokingham.

O'Meara said: "This year she has been missing the break so we had no idea if she was in form or not. We decided to put the hood on her, they've become very fashionable, and it definitely helped.

"Danny [Tudhope] and the rest of the team have done a great job at home of getting her to relax in the stalls and calming her down. She's very good on her day but obviously she needs to jump on terms and she did today."