Pesi Shroff's Xisca completed her summer campaign by picking up The Bangalore St Leger (Grade II) trophy at the local races on Sunday. The hot favourite cantered away to one of the easiest victories achieved in this event in recent times. After a successful winter season in Kolkata, Xisca had come back to Mahalakshmi. Finishing close behind Moonlight Romance in the Indian Derby and The Invitation Cup were superb efforts. Her trainer chose to bring her to Bangalore thereafter. Even though her final target was going to be the last Classic of the season, Xisca was given her first start in The Chief Justice's Cup over 1800 metres. Despite looking a trifle gross on that day, Xisca had finished an easy third. An extra couple of furlongs in The Maharaja's Cup were ideally suited to her style of running. Starting as an even-money favourite in that race, she came from behind and scored comfortably. Xisca was meeting a similar set of horses today. There were two factors that were glaringly evident. The weights were loaded in her favour, and also, she was the only one amongst this group of seven who possessed the required stamina to tackle the gruelling trip of 2800 metres. She confirmed both these facts with an emphatic performance.

The 40/100 favourite took off comfortably from the starting gates, and trailed the group till the half-way marker. Elite Land, Ordained One, Rezoom and Sunlight were under pressure to stay in front, and it was only a matter of time before they would shorten their strides. An incident near the top of the straight ended Sunlight's campaign. The filly broke a leg and collapsed on the turf. Ordained One and Rezoom led into the straight , and the pair of them were soon joined by Xisca. Prakash gave her a nudge and she darted forward. Xisca lengthened her strides and sauntered towards the winning post. Her stablemate Berlusconi made up much ground from the rear to take the second spot. A tired Rezoom and an even more tired Ordained One plodded along to occupy the minor placings. Xisca is a tough filly and she has handled her busy schedule with ease. Her next targets are likely to be the big races at Malakpet during the monsoon months.

The "St Leger" afternoon was dominated by jockey S John. He scored a runaway treble with Effectual, Cape Ferrat and Practicallyperfect. The first two are trained by Arjun Mangalorkar, while the last named was saddled by Dhariwal.The ease with which he won these races can be gauged from the official verdicts. A distance, four and a half lengths and eight and a half lengths were the winning margins of these three victors. The most impressive amongst them was Effectual. After an unplaced effort during winter, the filly was raceing against some modest runners in the lower division of a maidens event over 1200 metres. Prost and Signifies shared favouritism, but their movements in the early stages of this race were far from encouraging. Both of them were struggling to keep pace with the front-runners. Effectual occupied the third spot behind Winning Touch and Super Sprint, and the moment John asked her for an effort, the race was over. Effectual shot away from the pack and was eased up much before she actually crossed the wire. Her winning time compared favourably with the best clocked by more experienced horses during the afternoon. It will pay to follow Effectual in her future starts.

Cape Ferrat made it look very easy while winning a sprinting handicap for horses in Class II. He shared favouritism with the Neil Darashah trained Friendly Bond. Cape Ferrat's job became much easier once Friendly Bond took off sluggishly from the gates. While the winner travelled smoothly in front and showed the way to Skyliner and the others, Friendly Bond was caught wide for most of the way. After some relentless pushing from John, Cape Ferrat skipped away from Skyliner. Under the guidance of L Stephane, Friendly Bond ran erratically to end a tame third.

A huge thundershower before the start of the penultimate race of the afternoon rendered the track unfit for racing. Since the horses had already reached the gates, the authorities chose to go ahead with the day's programme. The heavy soaking took its toll on most of the runners. Fancied horses like Hill Rising, Argentum and Grand Success stopped in their tracks to finish in the ruck. Practicallyperfect loved the conditions and bolted away from Radical Attraction, Blue Star and Strive And Serve. There was a further delay in the proceedings when the jockey's expressed their unwillingness to ride in the last race of the day. However, they relented under pressure and proceeded towards the starting gates. The favourite Vayomi led till the bend before calling it a day. Chhota Bheem and Chantilly Jewel fought briefly before the latter asserted her superiority. Valdir Desouza and Chantilly Jewel added another point to Amit Caddy's tally.

Trainer Padmanabhan's Shivalik Prince helped jockey Prakash score a double for the afternoon. Shivalik Prince was a horse who used to play up on his way to the gates, but there were no such tantrums today. He did everything right to gain an overdue victory. He cantered steadily towards the starting gates, walked in confidently and made every post a winning one. Prakash rode a perfect race astride him. Shivalik Prince allowed Lady Gaga and Mishri to race alongside till the bend, but once he lengthened his strides, it became a one-horse affair. Lady Gaga stetched away from Mishri to end a fair second. No Doubt made up much ground in the straight to finish a close fourth.

A brilliant ride from Mark Gallagher enabled the Ganapathy trained Forest Regent to win The Lt Col Gaunt Memorial Cup. This mile handicap for horses in Class III attracted some nice three year olds. Last outing winners Esmeraldo and Mountain Of Joy attracted most of the betting, while the other five runners were available at 10's and over. Suraj chose to take Mountain Of Joy to the front and the pair set a fast pace ahead of Six Gun Smith, Ace Blood and Kilimanjaro. Srinath and Esmeraldo raced in fifth, while Forest Regent was seen being scrubbed at the back. The runners began bunching up into the straight and we suddenly had a new leader. Even-money favourite Esmeraldo emerged from the pack and made his way towards the winning post. With hardly anybody noticing him, Forest Regent was pulled towards the outer portion of the track. Gallagher gave him a couple of reminders and asked him to "go". The response was almost immediate. Forest Regent quickened his strides, overtook Esmeraldo, and galloped away for an easy victory.

A three way finish was witnessed in the only other race in the day's card. Favourite Mark Of Genius, well supported Shahizaar and rank outsider Super Surprise fought out every inch of ground in the final stages, before a camera print separated the three of them. B Paswan was able to get that little bit extra from Irfan Ghatala's Shahizaar . He improved steadily towards the winning post and pipped Super Surprise and Mark Of Genius. The last name was the public choice in this race. Even though he had a nice looking lead near the distance post, his outward drift cost him the race. P Mani was unable to guide him effectively in the final stages of this event.