Mr Malek, a miracle return to the top

Beating cancer was already like winning the race of his life, but Mr Malek took equine heroics to the next level by bouncing back from the ordeal with a feature race win on Saturday.

Truth be told, the Swiss Ace six-year-old was not quite at death’s door when a malignant tumour the size of a potato was removed from his neck at the end of 2022.

It was just hampering his racing career as the sliding form showed.

But he probably would not have raced again, let alone lived, had the ailment gone undetected and been left untreated.

Five months after the successful surgery, Mr Malek got the Grandstand up on their feet in the Group 1 Kranji Mile (1,600m) on May 20.

If not for the unbeatable Lim’s Kosciuszko and a surprising Cyclone, it might have been the mother of all fairy-tale comebacks at Kranji.

Back a fortnight on in a much easier $110,000 Group 3 Kranji Sprint on Saturday, the cancer survivor stood a realistic chance of adding a second silverware to his Group 2 Stewards’ Cup (1,600m) success from back in July 2021.

The 1,200m of the first leg of the new STC Super Sprint Series was deemed too short. But trainer Steven Burridge was repaid manifold – not only for his bold gamble, but also for nurturing a horse back from the brink of death to full health and, now, Group glory.

“I’ve got to thank (owner) CK (Phua Chian Kin). He’s been very loyal to me,” said the Australian.

“He could have moved him on when he was not winning, other than winning the Stewards’ Cup two years ago.

“Honestly, he’s really thrived, that’s the only reason I ran him. He thrived so much that I said, well, we’ll take a punt.

“It was a good ride by Harry (A’Isisuhairi Kasim). This horse doesn’t usually like racing on the inside, but he had to stay there. When The August moved off, it gave him enough room to be able to let go a little.

“He was never going to win bar the line. I trained The August before, so I knew he’d take Silent Is Gold on, it worked out beautifully.

“Harry was also my apprentice and it was good to put him on.”

The popular lightweight jockey, who was also in the irons at Mr Malek’s Stewards’ Cup win, turned in an inch-perfect ride.

Though they drew one, A’Isisuhairi never showed any intention of capitalising on the inside run, happily biding his time in fourth while The August (Bernardo Pinheiro) made haste up front.

Silent Is Gold (Ronnie Stewart), who shot to $6 favouritism by default, following the withdrawals of Sky Eye and King Arthur, looked like he would justify his ultra-short odds when he collared The August at the top of the straight.

But his many backers were in for an alarming sight when he could not put his rivals to the sword.

Instead, it was less fancied stablemate Kharisma (Marc Lerner) who was running on with a flourish.

But back on the inside, a horse in yellow had snuck up along the rails and made his way to the line.

Mr Malek ($29), the only remaining horse sporting Phua’s iconic yellow Oscar Racing colours, poked his head in front right where it mattered, just holding off a back-in-form Kharisma.

Silent Is Gold stuck on for third place another length away.

Clocking 1min 08.74sec for the 1,200m on the short course, Mr Malek was bringing up a ninth win that took his earnings past the $860,000 mark for Oscar Racing, a former champion owner who has sold all his other horses.

Interestingly, Mr Malek has also bridged a glaring one-year gap on A’Isisuhairi’s CV. Since winning the Group 2 EW Barker Trophy with Trudeau in 2013, the Malaysian hoop has never gone past a season without at least one Group win – until 2022.

With Mr Malek’s Stewards’ Cup the last of his 12 feature wins, he had even banked on a much younger Swiss Ace to resume the trend.

But, instead, it was his old favourite who came looping the loop.

“I used to win at least one Group race a year, but I only missed out last year,” he said.

“This year, I had Sabah Ace as my 3YO horse but he went amiss.

“Luckily, I had Mr Malek who could do it for me. From the way he ran in the Kranji Mile, he was back to his best form.

“He is enjoying his racing. Even if it was six furlongs, I knew he’d run a good race.

“All the credit should go to my old boss. We were both hungry for a Group win.

“Credit also to the vets who did a great job with Mr Malek’s surgery.”

While Mr Malek’s feat deserved the plaudits of the day, the riding honours went hands-down to Pinheiro. The Brazilian jockey swept nearly half of the 11-race programme with five winners: Silo, Rich Fortune, Real Efecto, Two Million and Cosmic Dancer.

Saturday's Singapore Results:  sgres04.pdf