Seb Sanders cut Jamie Spencer’s lead in the jockeys’ championship to two with victory on Desperate Dan at Lingfield.
Sanders had to wait until his fifth ride of the day to strike after suffering some surprising reverses.
But the six-year-old came to his rescue in the Buy Tickets Online Handicap.
The 3-1 shot, trained by Andrew Haynes, made his challenge on the outside and went on to beat Tony The Tap by a length and a quarter.
Spencer, who is sitting out a two-day ban today and tomorrow, leads 185 to 183 - with the season ending at Doncaster on Saturday.
Sanders said: “When you come here with a book of rides like that you expect to be jostling it out.
“Unfortunately at this time of year, some horse don’t run up to form.
“At this time of year to come away with a winner is good – anything else is a bonus.”
Sanders hopes to make further inroads into Spencer’s narrow advantage by riding at Nottingham’s afternoon meeting tomorrow and at Kempton in the evening.
The jockey told At The Races: “There are chances throughout the day but form sometimes doesn’t stand up.
“You can only be hopeful going racing this time of year.”