Sazali stops the rot at 67th ride

Life does not always give second chances, especially in the dog-eat-dog world of horse racing, but Sazali Ramli might be one of the lucky few to think otherwise.

Five months after the apprentice jockey rode his first winner, Kevin Eleven, on Feb 26, 2016, he called it quits after 31 rides.

But he soon missed racing and wanted back in. His applications for a new licence kept getting knocked back, though.

The father of four had all but given up until he finally got the nod eight years later.

The Singaporean’s return in the saddle with trainer Steven Burridge as his new master was only half the battle won.

The licence being just a piece of paper, it could only be validated by a winner, especially at this final Singapore racing season.

After 63 rides, three seconds and four thirds were his best showings going into the Aug 4 meeting, but to be fair, he had not thrown his leg over many fast horses.

When one of his rare fancied rides, the Burridge-trained Quadcopter ($24), ran out of the placings at his last meeting on July 28, a crestfallen Sazali read that as a sign his comeback was not meant to be.

But to his surprise, Burridge called him the next day to book him on $24 third-favourite Stop The Water in the $50,000 Class 4 race (1,400m). He could not believe he had been given a shot at redemption so quickly.

To the 34-year-old, it was now or never. If he squandered that new golden opportunity, he thought he might as well hang up his boots, even with nine meetings left till the last day on Oct 5.

He was also booked on three earlier rides, but Stop The Water was his last chance saloon.

After slicing and dicing the two-time winner’s last runs in every way, shape or form possible, he drew the same conclusion – unless he fluffed his lines, the horse should win, even at his first 1,400m test.

A former pest controller, Sazali knew he had to leave any scattergun approach at home. He just had to focus on Burridge’s instructions and leave the rest to the horse.

After a flawless front running ride, Stop The Water was all set to become Sazali’s “Kevin Eleven Part II”, even if that nagging doubt he could still be thrown a late curveball never left him until he was over the line.

Under driving rain, Pacific Warrior and Amazing Breeze, both ridden by much more senior jockeys, Daniel Moor and Bernardo Pinheiro respectively, were the only nearby threats, but could not rain on his parade.

“I’m so relieved. My first win was great, but this one is as great, if not greater – I thought I’d lost my chance, but here I am today,” said a very moved Sazali.

“I’ve wanted so badly to win at least one race before Singapore closes down. After Quadcopter lost last week, I thought that was it, I wouldn’t get another good ride again.

“But, then, the boss told me on Monday he’d give me Stop The Water. I was in shock, here was my second chance – and probably my last chance.

“I’ve done a lot of homework on this horse. I rode him on Monday, and I felt quite confident.

“I was only worried he would miss the start like last time, but today, he jumped on terms and went straight to the lead.

“At the top of the straight, I just told myself: ‘Shoot for it, let’s go, baby’ and he just kept going.”

Whether he himself will keep going after Oct 5 is up in the air. More importantly, he could now breathe better after finally ticking that box.

“Mission accomplished. Another win is now a bonus,” he said.

“I haven’t really thought what I’d do next. I might just stop riding, we’ll see.”

Burridge was delighted for both his apprentice jockey and the owner, Theresa Lee of Fairdeal Stable, which races Stop The Water with Ronald Lau as partner.

“I’m happy for both Theresa and Sazali,” said the veteran Australian trainer.

“Theresa’s been with us for a long time, and deserves that latest win.

“I thought the horse would run 1,400m well. He’s only a small horse, and the 4kg off his back also helped.

“He missed the start last time, but the plan was to go forward if he jumped well this time. Sazali rode the horse very well.”

Sazali may be on cloud nine, but would be brought straight back down to earth by the shrill ring of his alarm clock in a little over 12 hours.

Said Burridge: “After he got off, I told him ‘well done and see you tomorrow morning’.”

 

manyan@sph.com.sg