DREAM DAY FOR SURAJ

INDIA'S top jockey will make his Shergar Cup debut today at the track where Frankie Dettori's 1996 Magnificent 7 feat inspired him to become a rider.

- by JON LEES

Suraj Narredu, 40, has gone on to ride nearly 2,500 winners and now captains the Asia team in Ascot's novel jockey competition, 16 years after attending the event when his uncle Malesh took part.

"My dad and uncle were jockeys already, so I was slightly inclined to follow them but, after watching the video of Frankie Dettori's Magnificent 7 and the whole drama of what happened that day, it triggered me to become a jockey," he said.