Lady Bowes has been hard to reign in at times for her trainer, Cartmel's James Moffatt, but she kept it together to produce a superb performance in the National Hunt race at Carlisle on Thursday.

The five-year-old mare was given her first run in almost four months, leading her to be considered as a long shot at 100/1, but under jockey Craig Nichol, she was pushed out with four furlongs remaining after being held at the back of the 15-strong field.

She eventually made her way into second, where she finished six lengths behind winner and pre-race favourite Legends Ryde.

Despite her long odds, Lady Bowes' run didn't come as too much of a surprise to Moffatt, who knew she had that kind of performance in her if settled.

Moffatt said: "It's one of those where we knew she had ability, but she can be quite a handful at home.

"On her first run at Hexham, we thought she ran pretty well, but she managed to get rid of the jockey twice in the paddock, where she reared up over backwards.

"She was pretty green and a young horse that was sort of like a rabbit caught in the headlights in the paddock when the jockeys got on and it was like she'd forgotten everything she'd learned in the previous six months.

"We gave her a bit of time off and that experience has done her a lot of good - she hadn't put a foot wrong at home in the last two months.

"Charlotte Jones rides her every day and has quite a task to get her going the way we want her to go.

"It wasn't entirely a surprise, but obviously with the antics she's got up to in her previous race, my only concern was making sure she behaved and that was all good.

"The truth is we thought she'd run well as long as she behaved, which she did so we're very pleased with her."

With the grounds softening in the coming months, Moffatt, who admits he's not known for training horses for flat racing, believes that will suit Lady Bowes, as she continues her development.