28 February,2022 08:17 AM IST | Mumbai | Prakash Gosavi
Dexa (S Antony Raj up)
Dexa, saddled by veteran trainer Imtiaz Sait and superbly ridden by Bangalore jockey S Antony Raj, caused a stunning upset in the Poonawalla Breeders' Multi-Million (Gr 1), the feature event of Sunday's nine-race card slated at the Mahalaxmi racetrack.
The son of Planetaire out of Pension bred at the Sohna stud won the 33rd edition of the popular race also known as the juvenile derby, paying out a generous dividend of Rs 200 for a tener on the Tote.
Dexa raced in the colours of Kishore M Dhingra, who owns him in partnership with breeder Sultan Singh. Jockey S Antony Raj positioned Dexa in the fourth slot as Dedicated Boy (Yash Narredu up) dictated pace to hot favourite Ahead Of His Time (P Trevor up), even as Imperial Power (Suraj Narredu up) and Supernatural (PS Chouhan up) chose to conserve their energy until turning for home. The leader shot his bolt soon on straightening up, and Dexa moved up fluently to take charge. And even as Suraj Narredu and P Trevor tried hard in the final furlong, Dexa and Antony held on for victory.
"Dexa has a very good temperament, he is very mature," trainer Imtiaz Sait told mid-day after the race. "I had told the boy [S Antony Raj] to allow him to run his own race and be patient with him, and he did a splendid job," he added.
