WITH Euro 2004 commanding the nation's sporting attention, it was appropriate that Le Tiss should score at Salisbury yesterday.

Only five runners were declared for the stamina sapping 14 furlong handicap.

But it proved to be the most exciting race of the afternoon with the three-year-old, named after the Saints legend, getting up in the shadow of the post.

Le Tiss momentarily looked trapped on the fence when pacemaker Absolutelythebest dropped tamely away, but Sam Hitchcott eased him to the outside and snatched the spoils on the line.

Keen Saints fan Simon Trant, greeting the winner on behalf of the owners, remarked of the now retired talisman: "It was his goals which kept us in the Premier League for seven or eight years and that's why we have called him Le Tiss.

"We were absolutely convinced he would get the trip today, but I must admit we were a little bit worried when he had nowhere to go approaching the final furlong."

The syndicate have eight horses with absent trainer Mick Channon, another Saints legend, and it was their first winner for about six months.

But no such problems bedevil the Godolphin empire, whose Dawn Surprise ran out an impressive winnerof the one mile maiden stakes.

Frankie Dettori, who had the race in safe keeping about three furlongs out when he kicked clear, normally reserves his spectacular flying dismounts for group one successes but was happy to please the sun-drenched crowd.

"They would have killed me if I hadn't," he quipped.

Travelling head lass Annette Richter, who joined the operation in October, said: "She was struggling in the last two fulongs last time out, and the drop back in distance was very good for her."

Veteran Eric Wheeler trains at Pangbourne, close to where Kenneth Grahame wrote The Wind in the Willows.

But there has been nothing fictional about the exploits of Dancing Mystery who has run about 100 miles on the racecourse.

Yesterday was his 126th race and the ten-year-old showed he was no back number when he powered his way through the pack under Steve Carson to snatch the five furlong handicap in the dying strides.

"There's life in old timers yet," remarked a beaming Wheeler. "It was Steve's idea to leave the blinkers off and hold him up and it worked an absolute treat."

Favourite backers were generally on good terms with themselves at the end of the afternoon.

Moss Vale reflected his 4/9 odds with a clear cut success in the six furlong listed race, comfortably defying Mac Love's persistent challenge, and Selebela completed her hat-trick in the 12 furlong fillies handicap.