Producing her known turn of foot in the last two furlongs of The Maharaja's Cup, Pesi Shroff's Xisca (China Visit – Altimara) retired an easy winner of this race on Sunday at Bangalore. She ran on expected lines to confirm the confidence of her numerous supporters. The manner in which she quickened from the middle of the pack showed that she is back to her best, and also, that she will be difficult to beat in The Bangalore St Leger. After running some brilliant races in the Indian Classics at Mumbai, Xisca had arrived at Bangalore. There was a bit of an uncertainty about her total fitness when she made her seasonal debut in The Chief Justice's Cup last month. Without being severely punished, Xisca had finished a fair third behind Ordained One and Spearhead. Even though she was meeting the same horses today, there was little doubt that she would be able to beat them over this longer course. Xisca had benefited from her earlier start and the filly was seen doing some fine work in her morning trials. Arabian Prince had won the same race last year, but had reportedly lost form after his victory in The Stayer's Cup. The bookmakers were ready to gamble on Xisca's complete fitness, and offered a generous 11/10 against her. There was an obvious confusion about the next best horse in this race, as one could back any of the others at ten's and over.

The speedy Cielo Rey took off from the eleven-furlong marker, and darted ahead of Berlusconi, Balmoral Castle, Spearhead and Arabian Prince. Prakash was content to wait with Xisca, and the filly was seen racing three off the fence as the runners took the rising ground and began their journey towards the straight. Spark Of Gold and Ordained One tracked Xisca as the runners straightened for home. With the front group running out of steam, the field got bunched up at this stage. Xisca came with a flourish on the wide outside and skipped away from the others. PS Chouhan produced Spark Of Gold with a determined bid and went in chase. It was clear that this was an unequal contest. While Prakash was content to use his hands and heels on the filly, the six-year-old was under pressure from his rider. In the end, Xisca retired as a facile winner over Spark Of Gold. Ordained One and Unleashed finished way behind the two of them to take the minor berths on the result boards. The same group of Ordained One, Sun Kingdom, Balmoral Castle and Unleashed are going to be her likely rivals in The St Leger. As she was giving most of them weight today, it is difficult to see any one of these horses matching strides with Xisca at level terms.

Shroff and Prakash failed in The Smart Chieftain Trophy, when hot favourite Sorrento let down a horde of supporters in this sprint for maiden three-year-olds. The debutant had arrived from Mumbai at the beginning of this season and had been working regularly on the training track. He was facing a fairly ordinary set of local horses and was an odds-on choice to score against them. Allowing Right On Time, Claara, Starista and Rappadan Glory to lead the pack, Prakash was content to wait with his mount. Sorrento was held back in the initial stages and was given his head in the straight. The jockey expected him to change gears, but the expected acceleration failed to materialize. He moved sideways under pressure and plodded along to finish on the haunches of Rappadan Glory (Burden of Proof – Blue Ribbon), Right On Time and Starista. Sorrento is likely to improve after this experience.

The upper division of a Class II sprint gave Pesi Shroff his double for the afternoon. Last outing winner Tender Romance (Alhaarth – Tender Moment) had been given a light penalty for his narrow victory in a similar event held a few weeks ago. He was opposing Valahak in this race. Valahak was reverting to a sprint after a nice effort behind Immense, Hatsuhana and Clear Mandate in the highest class. The chestnut was expected to be too good for his present opponents. John and Valahak charged out of the innermost draw and showed the way to Eagle Claws and Flying Tricolour. Christopher Alford took a good jump with Tender Romance and settled him nicely behind the leaders. Tender Romance joined issue in the last 300 metres of this race, and moved ahead of the others. Valahak surrendered tamely thereafter. Friendly Bond made a late bid on the wide outside to deprive Eagle Claws of her third place. The winner has struck fine form and can be expected to score early in the Pune season.

After Tender Romance's victory, the connections of Juno looked confident of her chances in the lower division of this race. Juno's close second behind Tender Romance in an earlier clash seemed enough to win today. However, that was not to be. Juno had no answers to the onslaught of Missoni (Hurricane State – Aryawun), who responded brilliantly to PS Chouhan's urgings and skipped away to an easy victory. Despite shifting out, the filly travelled much better than Juno. Corleone led into the straight before feeling the pressure. He lost his third place to a late-rushing Sunstone. Darius-trained Missoni had won as a rank outsider in her only other start this summer. However, she wasn't friendless today and it won’t be surprising if she goes on to complete a hat-trick of victories before the end of the season.

PS Chouhan had scored an earlier point with irfan Ghatala's Sun Doro (Ontario – Mystery Mood) in The NM Lingaraju Memorial Trophy, a nine-furlong handicap for horses in Class III. The well-bred but dickey-legged Akaliki was attempting to defy the handicapper. She had won over a similar trip in the middle of June, wherein, she had beaten Sun Doro with a measure of comfort. Despite Sun Doro's weight advantage, the betting public chose to ignore his chances. Chouhan tracked Six Gun Smith, Akaliki and Hard To Pin Down till the bend before he made his move. Sun Doro overtook Akaliki and went away to register one of the easiest victories of the afternoon. Akaliki failed pathetically to finish off the frame. Royal Surprise, Emerald and Rich Radiant came from further behind to take the other slots on offer. With this double today, PS Chouhan has skipped clear of his colleagues, and it will be surprising if any of them manage to challenge him for the jockey's championship.

Pradeep Annaiah's Youre Wonderful (Tirol – Pyjama Samba) dragged jockey Bernard to the front and went on to lift The VG Saravanam Memorial Cup. The jockey was shocked to see this six-year-old coming from last to first. Bernard was content to trail a field led by Leon Cavallo and Star Presence. Youre Wonderful avoided the traffic problems by racing wide throughout this race. With the front-runners coming to a grinding halt, Youre Wonderful devoured ground on the outer strip of grass and won in a common canter. Star Presence ended second while Appolonaire came flying from behind to take the third spot. Youre Wonderful is in irresistible form and it is difficult to see him getting beaten in his next start.

Warren Singh's Ladzone (Royal Gladiator – Sound Insight) reproduced his amazing turn of foot to score an encore on Sunday. The handicapper had given a severe penalty to this five- year-old, and it was generally felt that this may prove to be a stopper. The trainer persisted with jockey P Mani, as it was heard the horse gallops only for this rider. Warren proved to be absolutely right. Despite his poor position at the top of the straight, Ladzone responded to Mani's urgings, and flew past a bunch of helpless rivals. The long lead that he established into the final furlong helped him in staving off a strong challenge from Rubellite. The latter must consider himself a trifle unlucky, as he met with an interference at a crucial juncture of this race. Rubellite is another horse that merits consideration in his future starts.

Hyderabad challenger Ann Arbor (Inhabitant – Masalika) won the only other race in the day's card. Because of her weight advantage, as also the shorter trip, the filly was supported strongly to start as a 13/10 favourite in this event. She was receiving seven kilos from last outing winner Biutiful, and the D'Silva camp felt that the filly was good enough to win today. Jockey Chary held her back behind Wild Nexus and Biutiful till the home bend. He brought her with a flourish into the final furlong and gave her a couple of back-handers. Ann Arbor travelled the best of the lot to score by a couple of lengths from a late-finishing Raja's Pet and Biutiful. Raja's Pet was caught wide for most of the way, but for which, she would have ended much closer to the winner. This modestly bred filly is currently rated in the lowest class. On the basis of today's performance, Raja's Pet can certainly pick up a race in the near future.