It was a close finish for the grade 1, Villoo Poonawalla Indian Oaks, the feature race of Sunday's Mahalaxmi card. It was so exciting that even as Forest Flame (P Trevor up) and Immortality (PS Chouhan up) passed the winning post locked together, commentator Deepak Rajpal, who has a trained eye and generally calls out photo finish verdicts accurately, refused to commit. Rajpal did give a hint that Immortality might have put her nose ahead of Forest Flame, but refused to take sides. "It's anybody's race," he shouted into the microphone, "it's a photo finish!"

Both fillies raced closer to the rear end of the field for most part of the mile-and-a-half trip, and both riders made their moves around the final turn before straightening up--Trevor astride Forest Flame choosing the inner rails; Chouhan on Immortality taking the outermost lane.