Winning India debut for Irish jockey David Egan

David Egan

Pune: Irishman David Egan gave an amazing ride to his first mount on an Indian track, steering three-year-old filly Questina to a sensational win in the Raza Ali Plate.

Not the quickest out of the gates, Questina and Egan found themselves in trouble as horses from either side jumped into their path. The overwhelming favourite looked seriously vulnerable when Egan was forced to slow her down and position closer to the rear, with 10 of the 13 rivals racing ahead.

However, the Irishman, 20, with four years of pro racing under his belt (over 200 winners including many Group 1 races), kept his cool. He cleverly saved as much ground as possible by angling in when negotiating the clubhouse curve, and just when the leaders were turning for home, in a lightning move, sent Questina out tangentially, shooting horizontally like a malfunctioning Diwali rocket.

Racing nearly seven horses wide, the Irishman then picked up a legitimate gap between two runners to sweep past them all to gain a deserving victory for the public choice trained by Imtiaz Sait. Despacito (Neeraj Rawal up) gave him a chase through the homestretch, but Egan made sure Questina was never threatened.

India's champion jockey A Sandesh was the only professional to score more than once with Pablo and Hokkaido, posting decisive wins in the Snow Dew Plate and Maple Star Plate respectively. The day's feature event, the Royal Calcutta Turf Club Trophy for class I horses, was bagged by K Pranil in a thrilling four-horse blanket finish with long shot Governor General for trainer MK Jadhav.

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