Autumn Glory picked up where he left off last season by winning in impressive fashion on his reappearance at Doncaster yesterday.

Geoff Wragg's progressive five-year-old took the Darley Stakes on an easy surface at Newmarket on his final start last year, and with conditions in his favour on Town Moor, he kept up the good work in the Stanleybet Doncaster Mile.

The 15-8 joint-favourite hardly came off the bridle under Steve Drowne in the Listed event to beat his market rival Hurricane Alan by a cosy length and a half.

Autumn Glory had won the Lincoln consolation race, the Spring Mile, last year but has clearly improved by leaps and bounds.

''He just had an exercise gallop really,'' Wragg said afterwards. ''He's a lovely genuine horse. He's a genuine Group horse too."

Tarraman kept up the recent good run of Mark Johnston's horses with a hard-fought success in the Badsworth Maiden Stakes.

The Middleham trainer had saddled four winners already this week and Tarraman made it five but the heavily-backed 5-6 favourite had to be kept up to his work by Kevin Darley to land a string of four-figure bets.

After racing prominently, Tarraman led inside the final furlong and just held on by half-a-length from the fast-finishing Munsef with Top The Charts a head back in third.

The winner is entered in the UltimatePoker.com 2000 Guineas and the Vodafone Derby, but his victory hardly caused a ripple in the Classic market with William Hill going 16-1 about the colt for the 2000 Guineas.

''He's still very green and Kevin said he was backing off when he hit the front but I would have preferred to see him get on with it a bit,'' Johnston said afterwards.

''We thought he was one of our best two-year-olds last year but he's not that robust or strong. He didn't carry much condition and we were never that sure with him and he got beaten first time out.

''Today you wouldn't know how good he is based on his racecourse performance."

* Melbourne Racing Club have been forced to make new anti-bird plans after a race at Sandown Park yesterday was voided due to a flock of seagulls.

Meetings at the suburban Melbourne track will finish earlier from next Wednesday after a huge flock of the birds flew across the field in the home straight of the final race causing mass chaos.

Five jockeys fell off their horses with two, Darren Gauci and Brady Cross, being taken to hospital with minor injuries.

The race was declared void and bets were refunded.