“Rusty” does not seem to be a word that exists in Vlad Duric’s vocabulary after he returned a winner at his very first day of race-riding since leaving Singapore to return to Australia in October.

Resurfacing at Pakenham for his first ride (and only ride) in six months (he last rode at Kranji on August 22, bowing out a winner on Prosperous Return  at his penultimate ride), the Australian heavyweight jockey drove Justa Dreama home in typical Duric style in the last race of the card.

It would seem some had buried the 44-year-old a little too soon.

To be fair, his struggles to regain full riding fitness at the tailend of his Singapore stint had been well documented. Those years of wasting compounded by medical setbacks like a throat lump, broken thumb, kidney stones had eventually taken their toll on him.

But watching him in his trademark whip-whirling and knees pivoting just off the withers on Thursday just went to show that uncanny sixth sense of knowing where the winning post was had clearly not gone missing.

Still a bit "soft" by his own admission, Duric was rapt with the fairytale return to the winner's enclosure, especially as it came for one of his staunchest supporters in trainer Wendy Kelly, who, back in 2007, handed him his first Group 1 winner in Bon Hoffa in the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes.

"I'm so happy to be back a winner. To be honest, I'm still not really ready, still a bit soft, but I just have to thank Wendy for giving me the opportunity, we go back a long way," said Duric who had another solitary ride at Sale on Friday, but finished fourth aboard 15-1 shot Denim Wars.

"The horse gave me a gorgeous ride. It was a bit testy there for a minute, but when I looked to my inside, there was free running and I knew I was going to win the race."

But don't expect that win to have whetted the appetite of the four-time Singapore champion jockey in chasing the next winner, just like he used to do with ruthless efficiency in his heyday at Kranji – all 617 winners of them (including 30 at Group level) since his first visit in 2009.

The insatiable hunger for winners and the full-on game face may not be the same, but Duric sounded at peace with his new beginnings back to where it all started.

"I really have no goals. I just want to enjoy my riding as I have really been struggling to enjoy it since it was hurting me a little," he said.

"As you know, I had a lot of health issues in the middle of last year and needed a bit of a break from riding.

"COVID-19 has also played its part, and I really needed to spend more time with the family back home.

"I'm quite happy to just come down to ride three to four a week, find another and go home.

"Maybe one of the things I'd like to do is win a feature race here, if the right horse comes my way, but no pressure."

It's not a narrative we haven't heard before. Many a time, jockeys in the same back-from-semi-retirement mode do enjoy a second lease of life.

Duric shocked the racing world, mostly the local and Australian racing community, last year when he called time on his Kranji stint, effectively bringing an end to his four-year reign between 2017 and 2020, citing health issues, the pandemic crisis and personal reasons for his sudden departure.

Now that the storm has blown over, a renaissance might well be in the works, but Duric would rather not set himself any target. Come what may, he'll take it, but he's sure of one thing – he has put a line through those days of overseas glory.

Singapore fans will be dismayed to hear that, but they should not give up all hope, though.

"To be honest, I've not been watching a lot of Singapore racing until just recently when I checked a few results last week. Young Jake Bayliss made his debut and I wanted to see how he went," he confessed.

"It's actually Sage (middle daughter, the aspiring jockey) who watches every race. She's currently riding for Julien Welsh at Cranbourne and doing really well.

"She recently broke her finger in a silly accident when she pulled the rein, but she'll be back riding in a couple of weeks.

"Sage really has a soft spot for Singapore racing, but I also still have a lot of friends there like James Peters, Stephen Gray and Shane Baertschiger.

"I would say I miss Singapore a lot more as a lifestyle, especially Storm and the girls (other two daughters are Lily, who is studying psychology at Monash University, and Audrey who is in Year 12).

"It was a very busy lifestyle, which is very different from back here. We're actually jealous of Australian family friends who go back to Singapore!

"But I wouldn't consider going back there to ride, unless it's for one meeting like the Gold Cup.

"At my age, those longer stints are past me now, but Singapore racing has been a wonderful experience, I have nothing but lovely memories of my time there.

"I wouldn't mind a shorter stint elsewhere some time down the road, but for now, I'm happy to ride here and see where it takes me."

Such sedate language would have sounded odd coming from one of Kranji's busiest and most successful jockeys alongside the likes of Joao Moreira, Saimee Jumaat or Manoel Nunes, but it seems to fit him like a (gardening) glove these days.

"Farmer Vlad" has been lapping up the quieter pace of country life with his family at his new 60-acre homestead in the quaintly-named town of Nar Nar Goon, around 60km south-east of Melbourne.

"We have settled back home now. I sold my old property in Nar Nar Goon a few years ago, and as I like the place so much, I've bought another one there, but much smaller," said Duric.

"It's five minutes from the Pakenham racetrack where I ride out a lot, and there's one meeting a week there. It's a little like Singapore as it's so near!

"I've got nothing at the farm at the moment, but I have been doing some fencing up, it's a lot of work, it keeps me busy, but it's more of a hobby lifestyle."

Fans won't mind the DIY jock in him driving a few nails into the post and rail fence around the farm, but if they were worried they had nearly lost the jockey, that faultless ride aboard Justa Dreama on Thursday has more than mended fences with them.