On the second encounter with Murdock (now known as "Murdock The Revenant"), he'll be riding the ice bear and you'll be riding Masamba. There is no way to avoid activating the word "chandelier" on your first lap, since it's part of the tutorial, but you should not use it any time thereafter. Just spam him with fire arrows and keep an eye on the red words at the bottom, which will tell you all his moves in advance.