steal the march over (someone or something)

To gain an unexpected or surreptitious advantage over someone or something, as by accomplishing something before, or better than, someone else. The retail business managed to steal the march over its competitors by signing an exclusive export agreement with Europe. John and I were both trying to win Courtney's heart, but he stole the march over me when he managed to get tickets to see Courtney's favorite band.

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Merlyn	MUR-lin	English
Anne (1)	AHN (French), AN (English), AN-ne (Danish), AHN-ne (Finnish), AH-nə (German), AHN-nə (Dutch)	French, English, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, German, Dutch, Basque
'Avshalom	-	Biblical Hebrew
Rudyard	RUD-yərd	English (Rare)
Muhamed	-	Bosnian
Mykhaila	-	Ukrainian