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Makin’s last-minute withdrawal from the $300,000 Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup (1800m) this Saturday was surprising, but fans would be happy to hear nothing is amiss with him.

Trained by Steven Burridge, the five-year-old son of Written Tycoon turned his form around late last year and in nine starts this year, he won three times and only missed the podium finish once when he ran a bold fourth to eventual winner Lim's Saltoro in the Group 1 Raffles Cup (1600m) three weeks ago.

He was nominated for his fifth consecutive Group race on Saturday initially, but connections decided to re-strategise and prioritise horse welfare, hence withdrawing the four-time winner from the Weight-For-Age (WFA) race last week.

In saying that, Burridge made it clear Makin still has a bigger fish to fry at Singapore's finale meeting on 5 October – the Group 1 Grand Singapore Gold Cup (2000m) should all things go well.

"He's all good. We decided not to run him in the WFA race (QEII Cup). He's had a lot of hard racing but also done a pretty good job," said the Australian conditioner.

"He'd been meeting the same runners and the field's probably a bit strong with almost everyone on same weights (58kgs bar the mare Istataba who will carry 56.5kgs).

"We thought to keep him a bit fresh and probably give him a run in a Class 1 race over the 1400m in two weeks' time (21 September).

"Hopefully they run that (race) and if all goes well, he will still run in the Gold Cup."

With Makin out of the QEII Cup, regular partner and jockey Manoel Nunes will take the reins on stablemate Mr Black Back instead. The Snitzel seven-year-old ran fifth in the Raffles Cup while his stablemate, Cavalry, finished in second last.

Both Mr Black Back  and Cavalry (x Tavistock) comes into the QEII Cup with a nice hit-out in the same barrier trial last Thursday when they ran second and fourth respectively. With their main targets being the Grand Singapore Gold Cup, Burridge was not holding his breath about a win from either in Saturday's field of 12, that includes classy gallopers such as 2024's Raffles Cup winner Lim's Saltoro and 11-time Group race winner Lim's Kosciuszko, and handy runners like Golden Monkey, Dream Alliance and Bestseller.

"Manoel will be riding Mr Black Back. He (Mr Black Back) trialled okay last week," said Burridge, who has three QEII Cup wins to his name thus far with Wild Geese (2014), Trigger Express (2008) and King And King (2006).

"He won first-up for me (in the Class 2 race over 1600m on 21 July) and ran good in the Raffles Cup. I was very happy with him.

"He will be up there whether or not he leads. If he jumps well, he'll be in the first three because that's his style of racing.

"Cavalry went okay for (jockey) Daniel (Moor) and he's happy to stick with him. We probably rode him a bit close, so hopefully we ride him quieter this time to finish the race off.

"We can only hope for the best. Both (trainer) Daniel's (Meagher) horses (Lim's Kosciuszko  and Lim's Saltoro) are racing so well and you got to take your hats off to Dan because he trained them very well.

"They're definitely strong but when we get to the Gold Cup, it's a different story. With 'Kosi' (Lim's Kosciuszko) on 58kgs, my runners could get 50 or 51kgs against him. The problem then would be getting jockeys who can make the light weights. We haven't decided on that yet. 

"The main thing is for them (Mr Black Back and Cavalry) to go into Gold Cup as lightweight chances, so as long as they pull up well, they will go straight into the Gold Cup."

With racing in Singapore coming to an end, Burridge has planned for most of his 18 remaining gallopers to be exported to Malaysia or Australia to continue their racing careers, but the 69-year-old trainer who turns 70 in three months' time has no concrete plans for himself yet upon his return to Queensland end of this year.

"Four of the horses will go to Australia on 28 September. Invincible Tycoon, Street Of Dreams, Bakeel and Ejaz will go into quarantine on the 12th," said Burridge, who first step foot in Singapore as a visiting jockey on the Malayan Racing Association circuit 37 years ago.

"Daniel will take over (the Lim's Stable-owned) Invincible Tycoon and Street Of Dreams will go to (trainer) Philip Stokes in Melbourne.

"Invincible Tycoon had a small surgery to remove chips from his off-fore leg after the (Group 1) Kranji Mile (1600m) in May and rested for a bit, but he's back in work now.

"Bakeel and Ejaz are going to Adelaide and they'll be trained by Aaron Bain. They had some niggling issues so we couldn't get them race-fit for the last couple of meetings. Makin, Ghalib and Asif would go over to Aaron too after the Gold cup meeting.

"I'm a 'young 40' end of this year (laughs). I would probably leave for Queensland end of November after everything's sorted out. My son, daughter and grandchildren live in Gold Coast. I'll probably be semi-retired but hopefully, something comes up."