SAZALI STOPS THE ROT AT 67TH RIDE

Apprentice was staring at winless comeback until Stop The Water ends the long dry spell

- Michael Lee

Life does not always give second chances, especially in the dog-eatdog 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.