THE thunderous roar which rocked Knavesmire as local favourite Monsieur Bond strode away to win the Duke of York Stakes capped an excellent start to the season at York Racecourse.

A huge cheer greeted the well-backed favourite, owned by Pocklington tyre- maker Reg Bond and trained by Bryan Smart, at Thirsk.

The victory warmed the decent crowd at the first day of the May Meeting.

But not among that crowd of 10,436 at York yesterday were the Blackburn Rovers football squad. They had been reportedly banned by boss Graeme Souness from a day at the races, possibly after the team's poor defeat at Tottenham last weekend.

Defeat against Bolton however did not stop Everton's Richard Wright, Scott Gemmill and David Weir from joining punters, as another year of racing got under way.

Cloudy skies failed to deter people from flocking to the racecourse, but celebrities were thin on the ground with only Emmerdale and Bad Girls actress Claire King and former Manchester and Leeds United footballer Lee Sharpe attracting attention in the bars.

Rumour had been rife that Alex Higgins might turn up before his evening exhibition match with Jimmy White, but there was sign of the Hurricane.

Among the crowd were about 20 students from York's College of Law and Leeds University, who all piled into County Stand for a big day's betting.

At the head were Tom Hoyle, from Leeds, and Louise Bartlett, from Hampshire. Tom said: "We all are hoping for a good day. We've brought a bit of cash with us, but I'm not Del Boy or anything. I think we will be all right."

The Lord Mayor of York, Coun Charles Hall, was also counting the pennies early on, after picking out Frank Sonata at 33-1 in the opening race - opposing the horse aptly titled Lord Mayor.

Coun Hall, whose tenure at the Mansion House ends on May 20, said he was with friends celebrating the end of his year in office.

"The year has been absolutely brilliant," he said.

"I will miss it, but I've enjoyed it. I had no idea how many different groups were associated with the city. I think many of the friendships I have made will continue."

Punters were relaxing throughout the course. In the Knavesmire stand, Ian Turner, said he had travelled up from London to attend the meeting.

"I wanted to get out of The Smoke," he said.

"I tipped the first two winners, but, rather stupidly, didn't back them. Still, good to get some fresh air."

But spare a thought for the racer who tried to scale the foot-high fence between the Champagne lawn and the parade ring, but got caught and fell over in front of a packed crowd. And the man who nodded off in the Knavesmire Stand also attracted a few giggles among the race-going public.

William Derby, chief executive and clerk of the course at York, said the opening day of the 2004 season had been an occasion to remember. He said: "It was a fabulous opening day and it was really exciting to be racing again.

"We had a locally-trained winner and a fantastic Godolphin prospect. We expect even more people to come to Dante day, which is one of the best early-season races for the new Classic generation."

Updated: 10:57 Wednesday, May 12, 2004