The AB Stud Fillies Trial Stakes was the main event at the Delhi race course on Tuesday. But it’s a nail-biting finish that gave the race an added dimension. A gap of 10 days saw a bumper entry on the season's 28th day and to accommodate all, a card of eight events was earmarked on the hottest winter recorded by the Delhi meteorologists. Still, the most important event for the youngsters failed to attract more than six. Beryl made a quick dash from the 1,400 m block to lead ahead of Darling Love, More Than A Woman and Shaksham Babe till the top of the homestretch. Before making it into the straight, the favourite Darling Love was summoned to step ahead, while Saksham Babe was also geared up to stake a claim. The last two furlongs saw class riding from two nop-notch jockeys—local Rajinder on Darling Love and the visiting Ranjeet Singh on Saksham Babe. Running cheek by jowl, the race could have turned its way on the either side as both the professionals had engaged themselves in a diehard competition. However, while Rajinder sought the help of quirt, Ranjeet preferred to keep his mount push on till the wire came to his rescue by a head. "It’s a blinker which made all the difference," Arthur Saulez, the trainer, told me. "After the debacle in the Sohna Stud Million, Ranjeet had told me to use the blinker as she was shying up during the race and was bit hesitant in passing the horses running ahead. I worked on that and the outcome is quite satisfactory," Arthur said. "The filly has a good pedigree (Serious Spender and Abish) and that’s why I pursued the owner, who incidentally was unknown to the racing, to go for it," Saulez, for whom it was the first big success in any classic event in his long career spanning of over 35 years, said. "Yey mere liye bhagyawaan hai (She has turned out to be lucky for me), as the stallion I have bought from UK has just arrived safely,” Dhamendra Singh Panwar told me. "Earlier, I was only interested in breeding, but being unknown to this industry, I would not have been able to run my stud in the Western Uttar Pradesh. To follow things closely, I decided to own racing horses," Dhamendra said. "Hopefully I expect her to earn more laurels for me and the trainer," he added. Saksham Babe has the staying power and the capability to maintain the form. Darling Love, the daughter of Ontario and South Beach, may have cursed herself for losing as most of the time she was tracked by the stablemate More Than A Woman. She should make amends. Beryl, who ran third, should turn out to be a good runner in the next venture. Show Off, who was ridden out contrary to her nature in the previous outing, brought the cheers on the faces of the connections in the way that was hardly expected in the upper division of the Gentle Spy Plate. She should complete an encore. Basra and Vieille, which finished third and fourth respectively, are a notable pair. The lower division of the plate saw Prince Railco getting the nostril better of Sangreal, who spent precious time in changing the course during the crucial stages under the guidance of Rajinder. The former was ably ridden by an apprentice K Sunny Kumar, the younger brother of last year’s champion jockey, K Narender Kumar. Attention needs to be paid to Barchetta and Pleiad. Shy Beauty tasted a long overdue victory in the Division 2 of the General Andress Plate. She should be followed again. The run of Silver Girl and Inspector Eagle sould be noted. Elegant Fashion emerged triumphant in the Division 3 where Asian Express was alerted to the task late. Wild West and Endless Strides have come to the hands. Sam Aldo's yet another surprise run came to a halt when he received a setback from the much improved filly Godavari in the Mile'Young Senor Plate (Class III). Pacific Queen bears watching. Silver Shine foiled the start-to-finish bid of Lovely Guerdon in a close call in the concluding event.