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A slight tweak to his training gears and a change in environment helped Mr Black Back get back to winning ways in the $85,000 Japan Racing Association Trophy, a Class 2 race (1600m) on Sunday.

The six-year-old son of Snitzel was once deemed a promising stayer, who even ran fifth to Hongkong Great in the Group 1 Singapore Gold Cup (2000m) two years ago. He last won in a Class 2 race (1600m) almost a year ago in June last year when trained by Tim Fitzsimmons but he had been in and out of form recently, turning in lacklustre runs at his last two starts.

Mr Black Back  was transferred to his current trainer Steven Burridge after his last unplaced run on 4 May for his previous trainer Richard Lim. While the bay gelding stepped into his new barn in good state, the experienced Australian ex-jockey-turned-trainer still had to tinker with his gear at trackwork, which led to an improvement in his overall manners.

"He came over in good condition but I couldn't really get a good guide on him because he works alone," said Burridge.

"We can't really work him together with another horse because he would bolt up and down, but after I put a net on him (the mouth) at his trackwork, he started to work really well, so I thought it wouldn't surprise me if he won."

An expected pacesetter, Mr Black Back (Manoel Nunes) took his time to roll forward from barrier one in the backstraight while Saint Tropez (Simon Kok) sat on his girth in second and Smart Star (Bruno Queiroz) trailed behind in third. Unsurprisingly, favourite Dream Alliance (Hugh Bowman) was put to sleep at the end of the field on the Long Course.

The $39 shot led easily into the homestraight and it was not until the 400m that the Elite Performance Stable-owned gelding seemed to have caught his six rivals napping. Saint Tropez and Smart Star were back-paddling while Dream Alliance and Raising Sixty-One (Ryan Curatolo) made up ground without really threatening.

The only one who got closest to catching Mr Black Back was stablemate Cavalry  (Ruan Maia), but he had to settle for second, three parts of a length away. Raising Sixty-One ran another neck away in third while Dream Alliance finished another one-and-a-quarter length away in fourth.

The winning time was 1 min 34.24secs for the 1600m on the Long Course.

Burridge was happy with the stable forecast, but more so for Mr Black Back, who was at his first run for him.

"The horse is in very good form. That's his first run for me," he said.

"He seemed so happy in himself. He looked bright in his coat and did everything right and well. I couldn't fault him.

"A change of environment could have done him some good too. He had an easy run in front and just kept going."

Five-time Singapore champion jockey Nunes would have known Mr Black Back better as the pair has combined for four times for one win previously. Coincidentally, Mr Black Back also made every post a winning one under Nunes in that stamina-zapping Class 3 race (1800m) on 15 October 2022.

"He's the type of horse who likes to go forward. They left him alone and he kept going," said the Brazilian jockey, who also rang up a back-to-back double after the Jason Ong-trained Great Warrior ($17) saluted in the $50,000 Sun Marshal 2019 Stakes, a Class 4 race (1800m) one race earlier.

"He's a happy horse in the stable and he trialled very well the last time (won on 9 July).

"We had a great barrier and light weight (53kgs), so we went in front, but we were on the Long Course so I was waiting for Dream Alliance. They came close, but my horse kept going."

With four wins and four placings in 20 starts, Mr Black Back has amassed over $230,000 in earnings for connections.