Ejaz wins at first 1,000m test

Manoel Nunes kept shaking his head and uttering the same word over and over as he led Ejaz back to the winner’s circle on July 13 – “unbelievable”.

The Brazilian jockey has thrown his leg over a few quick ones in his glittering riding career, but the Al-Arabiya Stable-owned sprinter was clearly special to him.

While Ejaz might not be in the same league as the Spalato, Stepitup or Infantry whom Nunes has guided to countless Group 1 victories, he still held the Street Boss four-year-old in high esteem.

That opinion would have soared even higher after Ejaz’s courageous come-from-behind win at his very first test over 1,000m in the $70,000 Class 3 race.

“It was unbelievable, just unbelievable what he did today. I told Mansoor (Gandhi, Al-Arabiya’s owner) the 1,000m might be too sharp for him, especially as we cannot work him that much,” said Nunes, alluding to Ejaz’s touch-and-go career due to a well-documented screw in his right knee.

“I thought Pacific Vampire would be hard to beat over 1,000m. Ejaz also had more weight than him.

“But my horse has got such a big heart. He’s a real racehorse, and has got such a lovely temperament – he’s such a lovely individual.”

Favourite Pacific Vampire (Daniel Moor) looked off and gone when he shot three lengths clear in the straight, but, with 150m to go, he started to paddle.

Ejaz ($14) was the first to pick up the signals of distress, gobbled him up to go and score by 3/4 lengths. Energy Baby (Bernardo Pinheiro) ran the quickest sectionals to finish third another short head away.

As an indication of the early frantic pace, Ejaz went on to clock a sizzling 58.3 seconds for the 1,000m on the Polytrack.

He was logging in his sixth win in 10 starts, a record which trainer Steven Burridge said could have been more stellar if not for that knee injury sustained after his fourth win in a row in May 2023.

“If not for his problem, he should’ve been a Cup horse by now,” said the Australian handler.

“It’s only a Class 3 today, but he’s still done a good job to win, especially as I could only get one gallop in him on Monday.

“After I scratched him from a race a month ago, he had to pass a test. That was his gallop.

“To still come out and win over 1,000m which we thought was too short, it was a great effort.

“I think it’s also the first time he’s jumped reasonably well. He usually misses the kick.

“He’ll be up in Class 2 now, but I’ll probably look for a Class 1 or a Kranji Stakes A race for him next.”

Nunes said victory could have slipped away had he made the wrong decision.

“I was waiting to see what Ryan (Curatolo) would do on Illustrious as I know he can hang in,” said Nunes, whose earlier win on Thunder Star gave him a double and a one-win lead (on 43 wins) back on the suspended Bruno Queiroz.

“If he does that, I would then go around, but when he went straight, I went to the fence, and my horse was very brave to the line.”

Speaking of split-second decisions, Burridge was sad to report the loss of his eight-time winner Split Second to colic on July 11.

“He’s never been sick in his life. He was in so much pain on Thursday that we had to put him down,” he said.

“We suspected it was colic, and the post-mortem report confirmed it was a ruptured colon. I had even planned to run him in a Class 5 over 1,800m next week.

“It’s very sad. He was very honest and won many races for us.”

manyan@sph.com.sg