Singapore Three-Year-Old Classic winner Starlight bounced back to winning ways in the $70,000 Class 3 race over 1200m on Saturday.

Touted as something out of the box right off his smashing wins at his beginnings, the son of Headwater lived up to the tag with a gutsy win at the expense of his better-fancied stablemate Tiger Roar in the Group 2 race over 1400m, which used to be the second Leg of the Singapore Three-Year-Old Challenge.

With the traditional last Leg, the Singapore Guineas, scrapped this year, trainer Michael Clements set Starlight  for the mock-up race instead, a Kranji Stakes C race over the same mile trip, but it then dawned on the camp Starlight was not quite ready for the longer trips.

After a closing second when brought back in trip to 1200m in a Class 3 event on September 25, Starlight hit the jackpot at his second try in a similar contest on Saturday.

Favourite Hadeer (Jerlyn Seow Poh Hui) ran out of his skin in his bold bid for a four-in-a-row, but Louis-Philippe Beuzelin was at his vigorous best when he brought Starlight ($18) with a well-timed run down the middle of the track to get his neck in front where it mattered.

The French jockey originally sweated on a gap between Songgong Hera (Iskandar Rosman) and Kiss Your Song (Danny Beasley) for the shortest way home, but eventually opted for the outside run when the opening didn't materialise with neither horse rolling in or out.

Bold frontrunner Ablest Ascend (Mohd Zaki) tried to nick the race from his favourite tactics, but despite steadying up the ship with soft splits, he capitulated at the 300m mark, but still took a laudable third place another two lengths away. The winning time was 1min 9.62secs for the 1200m on the Long Course.

The return to the winner's circle vindicated Clements' decision to restrict Starlight to short journeys, but the Singapore champion trainer qualified it was only for the interim.

"He is better suited to sprints, but I still believe that with time, he can go up to a mile," said the Zimbabwean-born conditioner.

"He settles nicely now like he showed today, albeit the pace was strong. He was pretty relaxed when Louis got him in behind horses.

"I thought Louis switched him out a little late in the straight, but the horse was too good, and got there in time. There is a Class 3 1400m race for him in two weeks' time."

With that fourth win in nine starts along with three seconds, Starlight is now the prizemoney earner of more than $230,000 for the PSM Racing Stable.