TAUNTON Racecourse hosted its first meeting of the season on Thursday and the crowds made the most of racing's return to the track.

It was a good day for highly-fancied horses initially, as 9/4 second-favourite Love The Leader won the first race at 1pm and 5/4 favourite Braquer D'Or won the 1.30.

There was a turn up for the books in the 2.05, however, as Nick Scholfield rode Demon Fou to victory having gone off at 40/1.

The 2.40 did not contain such a surprise, Patrick Cowley guiding Misty Bloom (2/5) home, but Mead Vale (6/1) provided a good value win in the 3.10 after holding off competition from favourite Borak.

Night of Sin (5/6) recorded the expected victory in the 3.40 and there was victory for Somerset trainer Paul Nicholls in the last race of the day as Southfield Stone (9/4) edged out Romeo Brown.

Taunton's next scheduled meeting is Thursday, November 29, with the first race off at 1pm - racegoers are reminded that a discount is available by booking tickets in advance at tauntonracecourse.co.uk