Off the back of six wins in a row, the up-and-coming Street Of Dreams looked like he was spinning his wheels in the straight at his first test in a Group race. The son of Dundeel eventually finished a distant ninth to winner Lim's Kosciuszko.
On the other hand, cancer survivor Mr Malek surprised Burridge with an encouraging third in the same race, where he was beaten a neck by first runner-up Cyclone. The six-year-old son of Swiss ace had gone under the knife to remove a cancerous lump from his neck after his previous run in the Group 1 Singapore Gold Cup (2000m) last November.
Beating cancer is a big deal in itself, but many would have been more concerned with Street Of Dreams when he was reported to have respiratory distress and came back lame on the off-fore after the Kranji Mile.
Burridge said that the Joe Giovanni-owned gelding pulled up sore and after multiple checks done by the vets, he was found to have a slight injury to his off-fore suspensory ligament, which would require two to three months of time off from racing.
This would also mean that the plans to run him in the Group 3 Silver Bowl (1400m) next Sunday and his main target of the Group 1 Singapore Derby (1800m) on July 23, both the first and third Leg of the Singapore Four-Year-Old Challenge respectively, are scrapped now.
"It's nothing serious, but he pulled up a bit sore on his off-fore after his last run," said the veteran Australian handler.
"He could have put his foot in a hole or landed awkwardly who knows, so I pulled him out of the Silver Bowl and we need to give him some time off now.
"It's the first time that happened to him. I thought it was his foot at first because he hasn't got the best of feet, but after we pulled the shoe off for two days and put it back on, it was still sore.
"The vets did nerve blocks (through local anaesthetic) and found out that it came from the higher suspensory. We also x-rayed the knee too just in case but that was clear.
"A scan on the suspensory showed that the fibre was a bit torn. It's a slight injury and the only thing you can do now is to rest, usually about eight to 12 weeks.
"He will walk and rest. It came as a bit of shock, but good that everything else is 100%, including his windpipe where he had ops done before.
"He's lightly raced too. Hopefully, he can come back in time for a race like the Gold Cup (November 11)."
Meanwhile, Burridge will pin his hopes on Mr Malek , who drops back in trip to the six furlongs in the $110,000 Group 3 Kranji Sprint this Saturday.
The first Leg of the newly named STC Super Sprint series sees only a small field of eight runners, including last-start winners Sky Eye and Silent Is Gold, as well as King Arthur and Ocean Crossing.
Mr Malek might not have found the line since his last win in the Group 2 Stewards' Cup (1600m) two years ago but judging by his return to form in the Kranji Mile first-up, Burridge reckoned a freshen-up would do no harm to his chances second-up.
"It was a pleasant surprise to see him run third (in the Kranji Mile), but he went how he trialled," said Burridge.
"He pulled up so good and ate everything at home. He appears to have overcome the cancer since he's eating well and enjoying his work.
"I suppose I'm contradicting myself there by bringing him back to the 1200m but he's pretty versatile, and there's not much on for him until the (Group 1) QEII (Queen Elizabeth II) Cup (over 1800m on October 14).
"There's a Class 2 race over the 1600m the following week but he would have gotten 59kgs. He only carries 55.5kgs now.
"There's only eight entries (in the Kranji Sprint), so I told the owner (Phua Chian Kin) he won't have hard work. We'll keep him fresh and hopefully he'll sprint well second-up.
"We'll take a stab at it. (Jockey) Harry (A'Isisuhairi Kasim) will ride him again and he'll get back to last or second, third last. Silent Is Gold will probably make the pace and I hope they run along a bit so they can come back to him when he sprints home."
