This ride fell into my lap: Jockey Suraj Narredu

Jockey Suraj Narredu takes Elpenor across the finish line to win the Poonawalla Breeders’ Multi-Million (Gr 1)—the richest juvenile race in the country—at the Mahalaxmi Racecourse yesterday. Pic/Shadab Khan

Three-year-old Elpenor (Excellent Art - Elena), ambitiously pitched in the fray by Bangalore-based trainer SS Attaollahi, annihilated his ten rivals to win the Gr 1, Poonawalla Breeders' Multi-Million (PBMM), the richest juvenile race in the country that was run at the Mahalaxmi racetrack on Sunday. Jockey Suraj Narredu who, despite riding more than 2,000 winners but had struggled to win this prestigious race, finally added it to the list of his illustrious conquests. Elpenor missed setting a new course record by merely 0.12 seconds when he stopped the clock at 1m:21.542s for the seven-furlong trip.

Suraj Narredu settled Elpenor near the rear end of the field even as the top five Mumbai horses decided to go with the pace, favourite Jamari showed the way to Irish Gold and Fighton, followed by Portofino Bay and Generosity. After turning for home the front runners came under pressure and started wilting, but it looked like one of them may still scrape through. However, the moment Suraj got Elpenor to move on the extreme outside, the Attaollahi ward, bred at the Poonawalla stud farm, flew like a winged horse, and before anyone could know what was happening, it was all over bar the shouting as the property of Mukul Sonawala and DR Thacker made some blue-blooded rivals look almost pedestrian.

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Winning jockey Suraj Narredu spoke to mid-day after the race. On asked how confident he was before the race, the ace jockey laughed aloud. "Confident? I had not ridden him (Elpenor) before," he said, "did not even track him once. This was a chance ride for me," Suraj revealed.

The biggest heartache for Suraj was not that he had never won the PBMM, but that he had finished runner up at least half a dozen times over the years. "I met Suleiman at Hyderabad a fortnight ago, and said I did not have a mount in the Poonawalla race coming up, and if he was planning to send any horse to Mumbai. He said yes, but did not reveal anything more, saying he would speak to me the next day when I got to know the name of the horse (Elpenor)."

"Elpenor is a compact horse, but has a great heart," Suraj continued, "I just let him be where he wanted to be in the race, and when I asked him to go, he moved up so effortlessly and so fast, I knew we would win!"

Interestingly, for some reason, owner Mukul Sonawalla who had bought Elpenor from breeder Zavaray Poonawalla, had asked half of his money back because Elpenor, he felt, was not showing great promise. "This man standing here," Zavaray jokingly pointed finger to Sonawala, "wanted half of his money back! I told him to be a little patient, and I am sure he has no complaints now." Elpenor won Rs 90 lakh for his owners, besides a glittering trophy valued at Rs 110,000.

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