ALL-WEATHER Finals Day at Lingfield on Good Friday was neither as international nor as well-funded as the Dubai World Cup card, but it can still be considered a roaring success given the opposition it was still facing from some only a short while ago.

There was no Tryster in the Coral Easter Classic this year (he went on to finish a slightly unlucky third to Real Steel in Dubai), and in his absence, last year’s third Grendisar capped a superb AW season with success at odds on.

The early pace was too steady to produce a quick overall time (104 timefigure) but the closing sectionals of both Grendisar and runner-up Fire Fighting were among the fastest on the entire card and there is not much doubting that this race deserves group status when the European Pattern Committee finally gets round to considering it.

The Ladbrokes AW Mile was similarly tactical, and Pat Smullen delivered a peach of a tracking ride on Captain Joy (99 timefigure) to land the prize for trainer Tracey Collins. The seven-year-old gelding was only fourth-fastest over the last two furlongs but had enough of a head-start to hold off the more fancied pair of Sovereign Debt and Mindurownbusiness.

Easily the best relative winning time on the card – courtesy of smart horses and a pillar-to-post gallop – was recorded by a back-to-form Alben Star (116 timefigure) in the Unibet AW Sprint, though runner-up Lancelot Du Lac (109 timefigure) seemed to be softened up by a wide draw and by going for home in the penultimate furlong.

Anyone thinking that Lancelot Du Lac is “just” an all-weather performer would do well to remember that he was third off a BHA mark of 108 in the Wokingham Handicap at Royal Ascot last year and is only 1lb higher now.

Dean Ivory trains Lancelot Du Lac and also the three-year-old Kadrizzi, who had the distinction of being the only performer on the card to break 22.0s for the final two furlongs when rattling home into third behind Wolowitz in the Unibet 3YO Sprint. Kadrizzi may catch a few of those returning from winter breaks on the back foot in the coming weeks.