A stirring duel between Sirono and Carla in the last two furlongs of The Deccan Chronicle Juvenile Sprint Million (Grade III), was the highlight of Sunday's racing at Bangalore. The two talented fillies raced alongside for the entire length of the straight, and finally it was the bobbing of heads which went in favour of the former. It was perhaps one of the best races that we have witnessed in recent times. The verdict was a mere short head and the timing was only a fraction over the local course record.

With this performance, both the fillies showed that they are "extremely special". To have come within a sniffing distance of the course record, and that too, so early in their careers was quite extraordinary. Both PS Chouhan and Imran Chisty rode impeccably. They gave their respective mounts the best possible rides, and confirmed the fact that they are currently performing at the top of their form.

Since a winner always looks better than the runner-up, Chouhan walked away with all the accolades. The day's feature had attracted a small field of eight runners. Being a terms race with penalties, horses like hall Of Glory, Vijay Damini and Walnut Creek ended up conceding chunks of weight to Sirono and Carla. The two bottom-weighted fillies came into this race with impeccable credentials. Sirono had won her first start of this season with absolute ease. She had shown amazing acceleration while coming from the back to win a five-and-a-half furlong race in a very fast timing.

On the other hand, Carla had looked equally impressive while cantering away in her maiden appearance. She had stopped the clock at One Minute Thirteen Seconds, which incidentally happened to be the fastest timing this season. If one was to take a calculator and compare the split-timing performances of these two runners, there was very little between them. Prithviraj felt that Sirono had improved in recent weeks, while Attaolahi was happy with the progress shown by Carla. Sirono was definitely the pick in the parade ring as she looked the best of the lot.

The bookmakers and the punters had a slightly different opinion. Carla was confidently backed at 70/100, while Sirono received minimal support at 7/2. This large disparity in odds was unwarranted, and the same was ultimately reflected in the final outcome of this prestigious event. Carla was fortunate to be drawn on the inside, and Imran Chisty made full use of this advantage. He took a good jump and settled nicely behind a speedy Vijay Damini.

Sirono had to improve from her wide draw, and Chouhan was content to bide his time before pouncing on the leaders. The others led by Walnut Creek were under pressure to keep pace with the front group, and seemed to be dropping out of contention. Vijay Damini was overtaken at the home bend by Carla in the middle and Sirono on the wider outside. The two market leaders began their charge at the same juncture and raced alongside for rest of the way. It was a pleasure to see the two fillies and their riders in full motion.

Although Sirono seized a brief advantage at the top of the straight, Carla enjoyed the support of the rails and fought back on the inside. They raced head to head for the next two furlongs and were locked together at the wire. It was clearly evident that Sirono had lasted out to get the better of Carla. Vijay Damini and Walnut Creek filled the rest of the frame.

The final timing of 1 minute 12 seconds showed that both these fillies had improved over their earlier performances. It will be interesting to watch their future progress. Prithviraj and Attaolahi are astute trainers, and both of them are capable of getting the best out of their wards. Based on today's evidence, it may be fair to deduce that Carla is likely to be better suited over a slightly longer trip. The other noteworthy performer in this race was Vijay Damini.

Despite getting overshadowed by the final result, her efforts were praiseworthy. This Deshmukh-trainee gave five kilos to her conquerors, and despite setting the early pace, finished less than four lengths behind them. One can only wonder about what may have happened if all three were racing at level weights. Vijay Damini is sure to emerge as a champion sprinter on her return to Hyderabad. Most of the fancied runners took a back seat on Sunday.

In fact, Neil Darashah's Aztec Gold was the only first favourite to oblige in a long card of nine events framed for the day. After taking a pounding in the earlier races, not many punters had either the recourses or the guts to support him at the fag end of the afternoon. With the withdrawal of early morning favourite Sunspirit, who incidentally suffered because of a colic, Aztec Gold had little opposition. In the hands of Sampson, he went to the front and raced well within himself to post a fluent victory.

A hard ridden Yas Marina could do no better than finish a tame second. The Tippu Sultan Cup, a sprint for Maiden Indian Horses, produced an absolute thriller. Dhariwal's Bugatti and Arjun Mangalorkar's Anna received strong support in the betting rings and started as joint favourites in this race. After Elite Land and Mark Of Genious had run out of steam, Bugatti arrived on the scene. Suraj Narredu decided to press the button, and she bounded forward.

Bugatti opened up a nice lead over Elite Land and Anna at this stage. With less than a furlong left to travel, Anna began responding to the stick. Imran Chisty tried his best to keep her going and the pair of them almost succeeded in winning this race. Bugatti lasted out to win by a short head from Anna. Elite Land ended a poor third. Strongly fancied Mark Of Genius ran a pathetic race and stopped in his tracks to finish a faraway fourth.

The RS Nagendra Kumar Trophy, a sprint for older horses in Class III was split into two divisions. Warren Singh's Lad's Gladiator made light of his heavy impost and cantered away from Youre Wonderful to post a resolute victory. Under the forceful handling of Christopher Alford, he kept getting stronger at the wire and won by a widening margin of over three lengths. Heavily supported Colonel Duff ran a poor race, and was under pressure to hold onto his third spot ahead of a late rushing pair of Zanzara and Spark Of Bronte.

The runner-up ran a nice forward race and can be expected to score over a more favourable trip. He is known to relish a mile. The lower division witnessed some unusual scenes. Lokanath's Dramatic Dancer was backed to the exclusion of her rivals. With the late withdrawal of Captain's Lover, the four year-old filly looked outstanding amongst this group of horses. She was expected to run away with this race.

Dramatic Dancer jumped comfortably from her inner draw and was seen racing in third position. Just as she began to creep towards the leading pair of Sunny Spell and Little Splendour, she received a check. In order to avoid running into those in front of her, jockey Sreekanth tried to hold her back. The filly apparently felt uncomfortable and veered out at this stage.

To the dismay of her supporters, she lost all her chances by running onto the outer sand track. The favourite took no further part in the proceedings. For the record, Irfan Ghatala's Dolce Vino came with a nice run on the rails to sail away for a bloodless victory. He won by a "street" from Best Time and Social Climber. Apprentice Selvaraj scored another point for this stable.

The other favourites to bite the dust were Amit Caddy's Legend Reborn and Sharat Kumar's Sweet Performer. The day's opener saw some inspired betting on Legend Reborn. It was difficult to understand the reasons behind such strong support for this runner. He had never touched the board, and was being ridden by a very average jockey called Shahbuddin. Legend Reborn was allowed to chase Princess Coup till the bend, before he was asked to quicken.

The horse lacked sparkle and was unable to accelerate any further. With the front-runner packing up in the straight, the favourite managed to hit the front. Shabuddin made free use of the whalebone at this stage. It became evident that the favourite was stopping, and anything that moved from behind would be able to collar him.

Under the strong hold of Sreekanth, Lokanath trained Stud Muffin made up ground on the inside and dragged his rider towards the winning post. They were able to get the better of the favourite on the last possible stride. The failure of Sharat Kumar's Sweet Performer added to the punter's misery. This filly had finished powerfully from the rear to end an impressive third in her previous start.

The connections felt that she was unbeatable today. The odds against the early morning favourite The Darling Boy began to drift violently. He too was reported to be "out for an outing". On-money favourite Sweet Performer jumped awkwardly from the gates and had to be brushed up to keep in touch with the leaders. Celestina and Bala's Glory led into the straight, before the former burst a blood vessel.

This allowed a free passage to Bala's Glory, who bounded forward. He enjoyed this free run and bolted away from a late finishing Sweet Performer. This 20/1 winner from Prithviraj's yard was ridden capably by P Ramesh.