THE curtain came down on another racing season in spectacular fashion this bank holiday weekend.

Thousands of racing fans flocked to Cartmel Racecourse throughout the weekend to enjoy the final meeting of the season in south Cumbria.

Bank holiday Monday proved another successful outing for the racecourse, and many of the punters who took part.

While visitors travelled from across the country and beyond for the show, one group of race-goers set the standards high.

Millom and Bootle based Ladsdoracing were on hand to see their horse Nicolas Chauvin claim second place in the third race of the day.

The horse was one of many on the day trained by local trainer, James Moffatt.

Steve Dawson, of the syndicate, said: "We're delighted. To be honest I'd have been happy with third but to run second is great. I can't believe it.

"I'm in contact with James quite a lot every week but it's a team effort.

"Everyone involved is great and it's brilliant to finally see what Nicolas Chauvin is about on the ground he likes. He ran a good race and hopefully it's the start of things to come.

"At the end of the day it's about local lads, local trainers and a local track. You can't get much better than that."

While the locals enjoyed the carnival atmosphere in the hours before the first race, not everyone was so lucky.

A serious accident on the M6 wreaked havoc for many race-goers, including jockey Noel Fehily, who was due to ride Boy in a Bentley in the day's starting event. His substitute Richard Johnson stepped in to claim first place with the Irish horse.

Australian Hamish Winter-Irving also enjoyed the day in fancy dress. He said: "My mates stitched me up. I wanted us all to come dressed up and I met them at the bus and I was the only one."

John and Isobel Wilson, from Bootle, enjoyed a mixed bag of results on the day. She said: "It's always a great day out when you come here and see everyone around.

"Today has been fabulous and the weather is just perfect for the horses and everyone here. It's just lovely.

"We couldn't believe the amount of people that's here today."