THE opening 32Red.com All-Weather Fillies’ And Mares’ Championships Conditions Stakes went to France, courtesy of 7/2 chance Fresles, who was given a perfect ride by Gregory Benoist.

Smartly away from stall two, the Royal Applause filly managed a breather but still shook off History Book before kicking hard in the straight, holding off old rival Lamar (heavily backed down to 2/1 favourite) and Don’t Be.

This was a truly international result because the winner is trained in France by Swedish-born Pia Brandt, who campaigns her horses so successfully around the world, while Benoist - riding his first winner at the Surrey track - is Belgian.

Fresles finished second on her previous visit to Lingfield and had been in good form at Deauville since then. A strong filly, she has a splendid attitude and is appreciably better on the all-weather than turf.

MOORE’S MIGHTY MIRAGE

Newmarket trainer Marco Botti has had a worry or two of late, with one of his horses suffering from a case of strangles, though the others were not affected. There is certainly nothing wrong with seasoned all-weather competitor Grey Mirage, who came with a perfectly-timed run under Ryan Moore to get up and win the Ladbrokes All-Weather Mile.

This was a fascinating affair, with Capo Rosso making much of the running, shadowed by Tigers Tale and Irish raider Captain Joy still coasting along just behind.

Finally Captain Joy eased between horses but Moore, having gained first run as luckless 5/2 favourite Sovereign Debt failed to find the gaps in time, sent Grey Mirage (13/2) to the front close home and held his old rival by a neck, with Captain Joy the same distance away in third.

Sovereign Debt, certainly unlucky, would have been giving Dandy Nicholls his biggest win for quite a while and had Grey Mirage back in fifth last time. However, as Moore pointed out, he was drawn very wide that day and this suited him much better.

LIGHTSCAMERA IN ACTION

Portamento in the Unibet Three Year Old Sprint would have set the seal on things for many Godolphin followers but it was stable-companion Blue Aegean who burst out of the stalls for James Doyle and soon had most of her opponents in trouble.

However, Gay Kelleway’s Lightscameraction was able to go the pace and went right through with her effort to get up close home for Luke Morris, the all-weather champion riding his 102nd winner of the campaign.

Kelleway has been operating out of Cagnes-sur-Mer for a while but, like several other trainers, is unhappy with the surface down there. She is a regular at Lingfield and Lightscameraction has form at the track, though he was allowed to start at 20/1 after finishing behind a couple of yesterday’s rivals recently.

“Yes, it was a bit of a surprise but Gay told me he was working very well and the blinkers seem to have really fired him up,” Morris said. “James’ filly gave everything but we got there in the end.”

MYMATECHRIS JUST HOLDS ON

Godolphin enjoyed a very rewarding afternoon but three winners might so easily have been four or five.

In the last, the 32Red All-Weather Marathon, Anglophile and Hidden Gold were made clear first and second favourites but, despite closing rapidly, they could not quite reach 8/1 winner Mymatechris in the hands of David Probert.

Mymatechris had something to find with Anglophile on earlier running and was stepping up to two miles from middle-distances.

However, Andrew Balding can do little wrong these days and Probert is one of the most underrated jockeys in the weigh-room.

Having settled well, the winner burst between horses in the closing stages and hung on grittily, scoring by inches at 8/1 as the Godolphin pair closed him down. There is no doubt the last two races saved the layers a great deal of money.

It was a splendid day and the fixture can only go from strength to strength.