Bjorn Baker can crown remarkable season with victory in Tatts Tiara

MONDAY MAIL: BJORN Baker has two good chances in Saturday’s Tatts Tiara as the in-form trainer aims to cap his best ever season with victory in the last Group 1 race of the season.

Trainer Bjorn Baker had a winning treble at Rosehill on Saturday

BJORN Baker is out to make the most of his recent winning streak by capping his best ever season with victory in Saturday’s Tatts Tiara at Doomben.

Baker will saddle Bonny O’Reilly and Egyptian Symbol in Australia’s last Group 1 race of the season.

Bonny O’Reilly has burst onto the scene over the past month and is rated an $8.50 Tiara chance after her third in the Group 2 Dane Ripper last start.

“I thought it was a really good run. I probably over thought it a bit,” Baker said on Radio TAB’s Past the Post.

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“I thought it was hard when you draw outside, I was a bit reluctant to push on and be outside the lead.

“(Noel) Callow got the ride late and he wanted to jump and be outside the leader but I thought we might get caught three deep. If I (hadn’t) said that she probably would have been a bit closer at the finish.”

Bonny O'Reilly, winning at Doomben, will contest the Group 1 Tatts Tiara. Picture: Grant Peters, Trackside Photography

The Warwick Farm trainer hopes Bonny O’Reilly will take further improvement from her first test in Group company.

“The reason we backed up into that race, we would have been three weeks between runs stepping up from what was probably a soft 1200m win,” he said.

“I like them to be rock hard fit, it’s one of my theories. You know they’re going to be strong at the finish.

“She has a remarkable racing pattern where she can put herself there, switch off and her ringcraft is second to none in terms of horses I’ve trained.

“If she draws a soft gate she will jump, put herself there and hopefully she can get the breaks.”

Baker also has Egyptian Symbol in the Tatts Tiara. Picture: Peter Clark

Baker-trained runners have won 16 of their past 53 starts, capped by a Rosehill treble on Saturday, with Test The World, Sir Plush and Collateral, all of which he believes can measure up to stakes grade.

He is eighth on the national premiership with 106 winners this season. He will probably fall short of the 121 winners he trained last season, but already his runners have won $400,000 more than they did last year.

“This is my sixth season in Australia. You go through good patches and everything seems to work out well and you go through bad patches. You don’t change anything,” he said.

“I surprise myself at times just how well things go at some stages and then other times no matter what you do, you don’t seem to get it right.

“I must say I’ve got some pretty good horses in at the moment, which helps.”

Stradbroke runner-up In Her Time is the clear cut Tiara favourite at $3.60, just in front of last start Doomben winners Miss Gunpowder and Prompt Response.

Egyptian Symbol is at $11 after running seventh in the Stradbroke, beaten three lengths by Impending.

MONDAY MAIL

THE TALKING POINT

Track switches. A revised program has been released covering meetings until November, but the multi-million dollar question is just how long Eagle Farm will be out of play and how the other south east Queensland tracks will stand up to the extra workload.

RIDE OF THE DAY

Larry Cassidy, War Baby, Ipswich, Race 6: Positive ride early from the 13 gate to get midfield, one off the fence in the run, then picked way through field to be right there on the turn without spending a dime.

Larry Cassidy produced a superb ride on War Baby at Ipswich. Picture: Trackside Photography

THREE TO BACK

Acatour, Ipswich, Race 8: Will be much better suited on the big track at Caloundra up to a mile in the Guineas next time out. It looks like being a deep race, but will take a good one to beat Acatour.

Banda Spice, Ipswich, Race 9: She’s busting to win another race. Got an important stakes placing on the board here and can back it up with a win next time out in similar class.

Raja Ampat, Ipswich, Race 5: Made the leap to Saturday grade stylishly here after impressing in lesser races. Can break through in similar now.

THREE TO SACK

Handfast, Ipswich, Race 8: Hard to believe he keeps finding admirers, but was $16 into $9 here and again failed to give backers a sight.

Seeking Asylum, Ipswich, Race 2: Should have been suited by the conditions but was beaten out of sight.

Sort After, Ipswich, Race 7: Failed to stay the trip, but was beaten on the turn. She’s been consistent up to this point, but 2000m and above tests her right out.

THE QUOTE

“He made a pretty good case.”

Acting chief steward Daniel Aurisch on Larry Cassidy achieving the rare feat of convincing stewards he was not guilty of their charge of careless riding in his winning ride on War Baby.

MARKETS

Tatts Tiara, run Saturday

$3.60 In Her Time

$6.50 Miss Gunpowder

$7 Prompt Response

$8 Eckstein

$8.50 Bonny O’Reilly, My True Love

$11 Egyptian Symbol

$12 Raiment

$14 Ravi

$16 Danish Twist

$17 + Others

THIS WEEK

Tuesday: Townsville, Coffs Harbour, Pakenham (Syn)

Wednesday: Gold Coast, Canterbury, Bendigo, Balaklava, Belmont

Thursday: Rockhampton, Newcastle (Beaumont), Wangaratta, Northam

Friday: Ipswich, Bathurst, Geelong

Saturday: Doomben, Randwick, Flemington, Morphettville, Belmont, Rockhampton, Toowoomba, Beaudesert, Kembla Grange, Moe, Devonport, Darwin

Sunday: Gold Coast, Murwillumbah, Coonamble, Pakenham (Syn), Warrnambool, Port Augusta, Kalgoorlie

UBET WRAP

Best backed: Tiyatrolani, Ipswich Race 5, 2nd (accounted for 40 per cent of the hold, $3.80-$2.50)

Hard to lay: William Wallace, Ipswich, Race 2, WON ($3.40-$6.50 after runner up Abohar was backed from $13-$4.40)

Bookie basher: Revenire, Ipswich, Race 4 ($4.60-$4)

Early bird special: Self Sense, Ipswich, Race 7 ($14-$3.40, accounted for 30 per cent of the fixed odds book); War Baby, Ipswich, Race 6 ($23 early in the week, started $8)

Originally published as Bjorn Baker can crown remarkable season with victory in Tatts Tiara