So who doesn’t love an underdog?

Let’s not fool ourselves, we all do, or at least most of us certainly do. Is it because we can connect with them much better than we can with the more fancied player, or is it because we can see a little bit of ourselves in them?

We admire the Djokovics, the Nadals, the Vettels, the Stensons, but our hearts go out to the Tsongas, the Bjorns, the Sutils and the Maldonados.

On a personal level, I’ve warmed up more to the latter crowd than I’ve done with the former. Not that I don’t relate to the team that is fancied to win, like Real Madrid, Arsenal or Bayern. It’s just that we all kind of feel so delighted when the unexpected happens and when the underdog comes out on top.

Perhaps most of us felt that way at Meydan racecourse on Thursday when United Color clung on for victory in the inaugural running of the Dubawi Stakes to give trainer Dhruba Selvaratnam a much-deserved big-race victory.

Not too many would have anticipated such a result, given the fact that two formidable winners of the Dubai Golden Shaheen, Reynaldothewizard and Krypton Factor, were in the race as well.

United Color was very much the underdog in the race but as he hit the front at the 300m marker and made for home under James Doyle, with Russian Soul, Rafeej, Balmont Mast and Kavanagh in hot pursuit, a deafening roar rent the air. I couldn’t separate the cheers from the chants but I could definitely hear most fans screaming: “Come on James, come on James.”

It was moving stuff, an orchestrated cheer that you don’t normally hear when Djokovic slams down an ace. It was the kind of shout of approval that accompanies a tearing, down-the-line winner from Tsonga at full stretch, before he tumbles to the blue hard courts at Melbourne Park in his follow-through.

I’m not suggesting that United Colour, or Dhruba for that matter, are the metaphorical underdogs here, but I just want to know if you are like me and understand just what it feels like to win a race like James Doyle and Dhruba did, when they were not really fancied to do so.

I happened to be talking to Dhruba prior to the race and while I did not bring up the topic of how much he fancied his chances, he did mention that it was going to be very tough. After all, Reynaldothewizard and Krypton Factor were both Group 1 winners and were carrying the same weight as United Color, who he felt had proved himself to be a good handicapper.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but looking back at the conversation we had, where we discussed travelling, smart TVs, concerts (Dhruba is a big Cliff Richard fan, among others) and stuff like that, I vaguely remember noticing that he seemed a touch tense. Nothing wrong with that, I’m sure even Roger Federer or Cristiano Ronaldo are prone to a bit of tension prior to a big occasion.

The Carnival is a big stage, and Dhruba was desperately in need of a big win. So I guess you could excuse him for being on tenterhooks before the running of the Dubawi Stakes.

Looking back as well, I feel so good about talking to him and being a part of his big occasion.