Kieren Fallon has been crowned York's champion jockey after a photo finish with rival Frankie Dettori.

Fallon, an odds-on certainty to be crowned champion jockey for the second year running, was declared King of Knavesmire despite tying with Dettori on 11 winners each.

But in a neck and neck finish, both riders were also tied on eight second places.

Fallon was eventually awarded the Studford Leisure York Jockey's Championship after a trawl of the result cards revealed he had notched ten third places compared to Dettori's four.

Mark Johnston, with eight winners, won the Castle Howard Trophy for top trainer on Knavesmire this season.

Training at Middleham, Johnston's success meant he was also presented with a special award for being York Racecoure's top Yorkshire trainer form the year.

As well as receiving the Castle Howard Trophy, Johnston was presented with a case of champagne, a perpetual silver salver and a specially-commissioned painting.

Meanwhile, as the curtain fell on another memorable season of racing at York on Saturday, racecourse bosses have revealed this year's attendance nearly topped the quarter of a million mark.

Some 17,700 racegoers flocked to Knavesmire on Saturday meaning over the season's 15 days of racing 238,066 punters went through the York turnstiles.

A spokesman for York Racecourse said it was not possible to compare this year's figures with last year, when the final two days of the season were declared a washout.

But he declared this year's figure were "very good and very pleasing".

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.