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The Steven Burridge-trained Ejaz continued his excellent run of form after he did his best work late to win the $70,000 Class 3 race (1000m) on Saturday.

That was a back-to-back Class 3 win on the Polytrack for the four-year-old son of Street Boss after he saluted over 1100m on 1 June. Notably, he turned the tables on Pacific Vampire , who beat him three starts back in another Class 3 race over 1200m on 27 April.

Punters sent Pacific Vampire out as the $11 favourite in the 1000m dash, but Ejaz was also well supported on $14. Together with the big grey, Illustrious, the trio made the early running in which Pacific Vampire (Daniel Moor) won the speed battle into the first bend and led. Illustrious (Ryan Curatolo) sat on his flank while Ejaz (Manoel Nunes) was one-back on the rails.

Moor was still sitting as quiet as a church mouse on Pacific Vampire after he kicked three lengths clear and untouched at the 300m. The "fear of vampires" was real when the race looked over, but Ejaz began making up solid ground at the 250m while Pacific Vampire showed signs of weariness.

Moor got busy on the Jason Ong-trained Pacific Vampire with 100m to the line and while the margin was still a length between the two gallopers, Nunes already smell blood in the water before Ejaz motored home to win by three-quarters-of-a-length.

Pacific Vampire did well to hang on for second, beating the fast-finishing Energy Baby (Bernardo Pinheiro) by a short head. The winning time was 58.3secs for the 1000m on the Polytrack.

Nunes, who earlier won on Thunder Star  ($22) in the $30,000 Class 5 Division 2 race (1100m), was thrilled that the injury-plagued Ejaz had won again. The chestnut gelding had missed a year of racing after surgery on his knee.

"I still think for him to be racing, let alone winning, is already a miracle," said the Brazilian jockey.

"So, for him to win today against some very good horses, it's a big achievement.

"I thought 1000m was too short for him because he is better suited over 1200m on the Polytrack and we carried 58kgs, so we thought Pacific Vampire was going to be hard to beat.

"But we had a good gate (two), so I got a good sit behind Illustrious and Pacific Vampire and my horse travelled very well in the running.

"I didn't push my horse hard because of his issues and to be honest, when Pacific Vampire got a few lengths on me in the straight, I thought we won't catch him.

"But when I saw Daniel (Moor) asking for him (Pacific Vampire), I thought 'hello, I can catch him!'

"My horse tried so hard I was confident in the last 150m and I was just so happy he won again.

"He surprised me today and I'm happy for (owner) Mansoor (Gandhi of Al-Arabiya Stable) and Steven."

The five-time Singapore champion jockey also regained the lead in the 2024 Singapore jockeys' premiership with his double putting him on 43 wins, one ahead of fellow Brazilian jockey Bruno Queiroz, who sat out because of a one-day suspension. Nunes reckoned Ejaz can win again if he stays healthy.

"I always said he was a Class 1 horse," he continued.

"And hopefully he can show that. We will space his runs because of his issues, but he has such a nice temperament back at the stables.

"When he was not racing after his surgery, I used to feed him in the stables. He's such a beautiful individual."

Burridge was also in awe with the big-hearted Ejaz , who had shown early promise with four wins from four starts in 2022 when he was still trained by ex-Kranji trainer Michael Clements.

"I haven't been able to work him as much as I want to because he usually pulls up scratchy after races, so it's amazing for him to come back and win again," said the 2010 Singapore champion trainer.

"He jumped well today, which was a bonus, but we were giving weight to some nice horses, so he did a great job.

"In my opinion, he would have been a Cup horse if he was 100% right. You know he won his first four (races) before his injury?

"But six wins from 10 starts after what he went through is a good result for everyone. Credit to the horse, he's got such a big heart."

Ejaz's sixth win from 10 starts took his prizemoney to over $230,000 for the Al-Arabiya Stable.