Two races after a fairly cruisy win on Inherit, jockey Vlad Duric again didn’t have to dig too deep into his bag of tricks to steer odds-on favourite Mr Malek (NZ) (Swiss Ace) home in the $75,000 Windfall Stakes, a Novice race over 1200m.
Once in the box-seat, the $9 shot, who was first-up since his last-start win at his second start in August, needed no second invitation when the leader Red Roar (So Secret) rolled off under pressure upon cornering.
Mr Malek ghosted through, and immediately put in the big bounds without Duric having to resort to the persuader much, effortlessly skipping clear to an unassailable lead before easing down to a 1 ¾-length margin from the first of the beaten brigade, Buuraq (NZ) (Sweet Orange).
Afalonhro (Lonhro) let down late to snatch third place from The Wild Bunch (NZ) (Swiss Ace) by a short head. The winning time was 1min 9.51secs for the 1200m on the Long Course.
Mr Malek’s run had actually come under an injury cloud since Friday when he was found to be lame in the left fore. It turned out to be a shoeing issue which was promptly fixed by the Club farriers, with the Swiss Ace three-year-old given the all clear on Sunday morning.
Duric jokingly said he would not have had a hint of such pre-race concerns just going with the way Mr Malek carved up his rivals for that second win in three starts for the Oscar Racing Stable.
“I wouldn’t have known of those (injury issues) if you hadn’t told me,” he said to Singapore Turf Club racing presenter Nicholas Child when prompted for a post-race reaction.
“He felt great to me. (Trainer) Lee (Freedman) has always had huge wraps on this horse and even though he was not 100%, he did it easily.”
The Australian handler was not on hand, but it is well-known that Mr Malek will be one of the main contenders to the Singapore Three-Year-Old Challenge this year.
Mr Malek’s earnings have already crept past the $85,000 mark for the Oscar Racing Stable, with no doubt more to come in his future endeavours.
