"But after winning the first two, when the narrow verdict against Impala went in my favour," he added, "I thought maybe the luck is really on my side today."
Representation picture
Jockey Sandesh Akhade excelled in the saddle at the Mahalaxmi racetrack yesterday when he rode five straight winners on a six-race Sunday card. In a bid to equal the Indian record of six wins in a day, held by none other than the legendary Aslam Kader on the same Mahalaxmi track 25 years ago, Sandesh desperately tried to win from his last and sixth mount on the card, Sir Ramon, but the horse petered out after looking promising until the final turn.
Matheran boy
Hailing from Matheran, a hill station in Maharashtra, Sandesh has been following into the footsteps of his predecessor Vasant Shinde, who was the first jockey from Matheran to get into the big league on the national circuit.
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Speaking to mid-day after the races, Sandesh said, "A friend said to me in the morning I could win all my 6 races on today's card, but I knew he was just trying to cheer me up because only on Friday I had finished second on all my four mounts."
"But after winning the first two, when the narrow verdict against Impala went in my favour," he added, "I thought maybe the luck is really on my side today."
"It went as per the plan: Sandesh"
Sandesh then followed it up with an easy victory astride the Vishal Gaikwad ward Night Hunt who annihilated rivals to spare six-and-a-half lengths to the runner up. Sandesh's final victory, in the feature event of the day, the Jiwajirao Scindia Trophy (Gr 2), however, looked divinely ordained as his mount, the Adhirajsingh Jodha-trained Tasawwur looked squarely beaten in the homestretch when La Rondine (David Egan up) whizzed past him and appeared to be going away, but suddenly shortened her strides and surrendered to Tasawwur.
"We had actually anticipated it, that was our plan," Sandesh explained, "we knew La Rondine would be vulnerable in the final furlong and hoped she would make her move early, so that I could go get her in the final 100 yards. Our plan worked perfectly."
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