WATCH: Bjorn Baker spells out why Overpass will score another Group 1 Winterbottom Stakes

Bjorn Baker explains why his sprint warrior Overpass can successfully defend his Group 1 Winterbottom Stakes crown on Saturday.

As Overpass prepares for another elite mission on his field of dreams Perth track where he is unbeaten, Bjorn Baker insists he still has plenty of good racing in him even “if it feels like he has been around forever”.

Overpass may be trained at Baker’s Warwick Farm stables in Sydney, but his greatest triumphs have been 4000km away in Perth where he has never been vanquished, winning three from three.

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Overpass is favourite to defend his Group 1 Winterbottom Stakes (1200m) crown on Saturday at Ascot and he also boasts two victories at the track in the rich The Quokka slot race in the last two years.

Overpass didn’t fire at his last start in the Group 1 Champions Sprint at Flemington where, as a $6.50 chance, he finished eighth and was beaten almost 3½ lengths by Sunshine In Paris.

But six-year-old Overpass goes to a new level in Perth and Baker pointed out he finished 10th in last year’s The Everest before venturing west and braining them in the Winterbottom.

“It’s funny because he was coming into this race last year off a bad run in The Everest and we weren’t quite 100 per cent happy with him,” Baker told Racenet.

“This time is probably a little bit the same.

“We went down to Melbourne and I don’t necessarily think he was at his best.

“But of course we are getting him back to Ascot where he has won three from three.

“He looks to have travelled over well and he looks absolutely magnificent.

“From that point of view, he really mimics last year. He looked great last year, he looks great this year.”

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Sprint warrior Overpass. Picture: Racing Photos via Getty Images

Baker is looking to bounce back after feeling flat last Saturday when Belclare disappointed in the Group 1 Railway Stakes in Perth when the mare finished last of 16 after being well fancied as a $5.50 chance.

When Overpass first ventured to Perth, there were some knockers who didn’t think his trackwork was brilliant enough to be a star in the local Group 1.

But he quickly silenced those doubters.

Overpass and Perth go together like fish and chips, bread and butter and rum and coke.

“Every time he has been to Perth he has thrived and he has run up to his very best,” Baker said.

“When he first came over here, some people thought that’s not the explosive piece of track work they often expect from a sprinter.

“But what works for him, works for him.

“He has been a stable stalwart, he loves Perth and it would be amazing if he went back-to-back in the Winterbottom.

“All going well, we will be back for The Quokka next year too.

“I think he has still got plenty of good racing in him, even though it seems like he has been around forever.”

Overpass has won $8.9m in prizemoney from a 28-start career which has produced nine wins.

If he wins the $1.5m Winterbottom, which offers first prizemoney of $822,000, he will nudge to the brink of the $10m earnings mark.

Overpass has drawn barrier 16 in the 16-horse field.

Originally published as WATCH: Bjorn Baker spells out why Overpass will score another Group 1 Winterbottom Stakes