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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. 

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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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