Kalpana just held on to land the Legends Global Yorkshire Oaks at York after a mighty scare from Sparan Nua. Aidan O'Brien's outsider Sugar Island was immediately sent to the front and Ronan Whelan quickly distanced himself from the field, extending the advantage to 20 lengths turning for home. But as the main players began to eat into that lead, Colin Keane sent Kalpana to give chase over three furlongs out, hitting top gear two furls from home, only for Jim Bolger's Sparan Nua to make up plenty of ground and close the gap.

The line just came in time for the 10-11 favourite to hold on by a short head, giving Keane, Andrew Balding and owners Juddmonte a second Group One in the space of 24 hours, after Item had landed the showpiece Juddmonte International on Wednesday.

"You knew after going a couple of furlongs it was going to be messy and passing the three (furlong marker) I thought the pacemaker was gone," said Juddmonte's European racing manager Barry Mahon. "Colin had to commit probably a bit sooner than he wanted. When he saw himself the pacemaker was gone he had to chase her down a little bit, so she was always going to be vulnerable to something closing late, but she's gutsy and knows where the line is."

Connections must now consider how to split their aces, with either Kalpana or Item likely to get a shot at the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. Should Item head for Paris Longchamp, Kalpana will almost certainly bid to win the Qipco British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes at Ascot later in October.