It went down to the wire in the final race on the last day of the Flat turf season at Doncaster yesterday, but it all ended in smiles as the most dramatic conclusion to a Jockeys’ Championship race resulted in Jamie Spencer and Seb Sanders sharing the title.

Both jockeys ended on the 190-winner mark and were genuinely happy to have shared the spoils. It was the closest title race for 20 years, when Steve Cauthen pipped Pat Eddery by two on the final day, and the first dead-heat since 1923 when Steve Donoghue and Charlie Elliott shared top spot with 89 winners.

There was considerable relief too that they had not lost – the runner-up spot after such an enthralling contest would have been cruel.

The battle had ebbed and flowed in the final month of the campaign and Sanders travelled to the Yorkshire course with a slender lead of one over Spencer, but with only five booked rides to his rival’s seven.

Spencer must have felt that the fates were against him when Sanders won their first battle in the first division of an otherwise uninspiring six-furlong maiden for two-year-olds.

The finish was eventful with Incomparable, Sanders’ mount, apparently destined for second place until the leader Omnicat ducked violently left and then right and unseated his rider Eddie Ahern in the last 100 yards.

Having been handed a winning opportunity, there was a second stroke of good fortune for Sanders as Omnicat nearly cannoned into his mount. Incomparable managed to hold on for a one-length win, putting Sanders two clear in the title race. “I was expecting to be a good second and we were lucky the loose horse did not carry us into the rail,” said a relieved Sanders.

As he returned to the weighing room, having ridden the unplaced Horatio Carter, Spencer was generous and philosophical. “I have had a lot of luck too this season. Seb lost a race at Bath [after passing the post in front] and I kept the race at an appeal the other day – that is the sort of luck people don’t take into account. Seb was due a bit, it is a pity he picked the wrong day to have it.

“Hand on my heart, if he wins it he deserves more than any other jockey that has ridden to be champion jockey because he has put more effort in. There has never been a title [race] like this for 20 years and if I am on the wrong end of it I am not too pushed. If it happened to be a draw it would be fantastic, of course. I have put the work in too.” Half an hour later Sanders sat out the second division of the maiden and breathed another sigh of relief as Spencer was thwarted in a photo-finish. Spencer looked to have it won on board Minus Fifteen until Premier Danseur swept by to edge him out by a neck.

There was plenty of confidence that Spencer would have the call in the nursery and he duly brought Generous Thought home a convincing winner with Sanders a well-beaten third on Mudhish. That made it 190-189 to Sanders with four races to go.

Neither jockey made an impact in the 10-furlong Listed race, and then it was Sanders’ turn to endure an agonisingly narrow defeat.

Borderlescott, considered by Sanders to be his best chance of the day, made most of the running in the Listed sprint, but they were caught in the last stride by Galeota, ridden by reigning champion Ryan Moore, and beaten a short head.

Sanders still led by one with two races to go, but then he suffered a setback when it was announced that his mount in the final showdown, Backbord, had been withdrawn on account of the ground. Even so, that left Spencer still needing to win the day’s feature, the November Handicap, on Pippa Greene and then that final event on Inchnad-amph to secure the title outright, while Sanders had one last shot on John Terry in the November Handicap.

Pippa Greene never gave the slightest hope for Spencer, but John Terry looked to be travelling like a winner inside the final three furlongs only to flatten out. Malt And Mash, a stable companion of Galeota, completed a double for trainer Richard Hannon and Moore, whose hopes of retaining his title were scuppered by a serious arm injury early in the season.

Moore’s victory in the November Handicap meant that Sanders could not be overtaken and he was guaranteed at least a share of the title.

To draw level, Spencer had to take the final race on Inchnad-amph, an incredible denouement for a title race that had started on March 31. Spencer was his usual cool self, despite the intense pressure, and the Tim FitzGerald-trained stayer looked the winner a long way out. Just after passing the post in front, Spencer clasped his hands around his hero’s neck – the championship was shared. He was loudly cheered as he returned to the winner’s enclosure and racegoers were happy to see the title shared.

“I would have been devastated to have got so close and then been beaten,” said Sanders. “It has been a long, long season and when Ryan [Moore] had his injury it just left the door open to the championship. It gradually got wider and my agent’s [Keith Bradley] attitude changed.

“We had a sticky July, but things picked up again and things just tossed and turned. It has been a great challenge and what more can I say? I must admit I was a bit low when Jamie went seven in front but my wife Leona said ‘come on, you can do it’, and she was right. All credit to Jamie, he is a great jockey and I am pleased to have shared the title with him.”

Before heading for Wolver-hampton’s evening meeting, Sanders added: “It will take a week to wind down and Leona has promised me that I can do what I like, like playing golf, but I may have a few rides on the all-weather before I go out to ride in a jockeys’ competition in Mauri-tius at the end of the month. Then it will be feet up until Feburary, and if I get a good start I will have another crack at it [the championship].”

Spencer, who looked the more tired of the pair, said: “It is a relief that it is all over. It has been very tough and it is good that I have got something out of it. When it gets as tight as it has been you don’t enjoy it, especially on a day like this. I should have won on Zidane and when I was caught by Darryll [Holland, who rode Premier Danseur] I thought it was all over. I can’t wait to shake Seb’s hand. I just feel like lying down and sleeping. Never again.” Spencer is unlikely to go championship chasing next year.

Greg Fairley, 19, would have slept easier than Sanders and Spencer on Friday night as he had had the apprentice championship in safe keeping for a couple of weeks, but the road to the top of the young riders had not been without its traumas.

Towards the end of last season the Hawick-born rider, who has the backing of the powerful Mark Johnston stable, was concerned about his increasing weight and he recalled: “I was near to packing it all in but my weight came good again. I am not sure why but I have been doing so much travelling that I haven’t had time to eat.”

The 2000 champion Kevin Darley retired after riding in the November Handicap. He enjoyed a magnificent 30-year career, with Bollin Eric’s success in the St Leger at Doncaster one of his proudest moments, and he was presented with a framed painting, his colleagues having contributed to the cost with each donating a riding fee.