Malkovich has put next month’s $1 million Inglis Sprint back on his agenda after he bounced back from a flop on a heavy track for the Bjorn Baker stable to take out the opening race at Randwick.
Stable representative Stephen McLean said Malkovich was back to his best on the drier Soft 6 surface to take out the Benchmark 72 Handicap over 1100 metres.
Before his last start failure on a heavy track in the Gosford Guineas, Malkovich had put together impressive back to back wins at Hawkesbury and Canterbury where he led throughout each time to win.
“Rachel (King) came back in last time and said the wheels were just spinning in the mud so she looked after him,” McLean said.
“We’ve come back today off a bit of a freshen up, and back to the 1100m on a drier track definitely helped him.”
King, who has been on board for all but one of his eight starts, echoed McLean’s thoughts regarding the Gosford failure after winning on him.
“He’s back to his usual self, a lot happier on this drier track,” King said.
“Last start when he wasn’t happy on the heavy track I wasn’t hard on him because I knew he’s such a genuine horse.
“He always gives me everything and it was really nice to see him bounce back today.”
The Choisir colt wasn’t the first to jump out of the barriers today, but managed to muster along the rail to take the running soon after and was never headed under the urgings by King.
Malkovich ($6) held on to defeat Triple Ace ($5) by a short neck with Frozen In Time ($8) a further two lengths back in third.
The $240,000 Ready To Run purchase will now be set for the $1 million Inglis Sprint over 1200 metres for three-year-olds on February 6 at Randwick.
