Bjorn Baker aiming to end record-breaking season with another feature win at Rosehill
The curtain closes on the 2024/25 racing season in 11 days and Sydney racing's mover and shaker Bjorn Baker reflects on his best ever season in Australia's most competitive jurisdiction of thoroughbred racing.
Back in 2011 he left the nest, branching out on his own after making a name for himself in Sydney in partnership with his father, New Zealand Hall of Famer Murray Baker, with dreams of mixing it with the best Australian racing has to offer.
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'Sydney racing is not easy, there is no kidding yourself, you need quality horses to win races,' he said shortly after commencing Bjorn Baker Racing.
'You need to be improving all the time and working out ways to get better. It is the only way to ensure you can be competitive in Sydney racing.'
Fast forward to 2025 and Baker has been true to his word as his best ever season nears the end.
A career-best 153 winners, he's second on the Sydney trainers' premiership with 87 winners, almost 30 more than his previous best result and his haul of $3.9m in two-year-old earnings is more than any other Australian trainer.
Bjorn Baker claimed the Magic Millions 2YO Classic in January with O' Ole. Picture: Magic Millions
Twenty-three stakes winners this season eclipses his previous best of 10 in 2021/22, while 15 two-year-old wins matches his 2022/23 result, but his five two-year-old stakes winners is his best result.
'It's been an amazing season, beyond my wildest dreams,' Baker said.
'I'm very lucky to have a great team of staff and what's been achieved is largely down to their hard work and to the support I get from our owners.
'We've also had a lot of fun along the way. I think it's important to have fun.
'It's not easy getting winners and people don't go into horses not to have fun so race a horse with Bjorn Baker Racing and when we win, we're going to have a good time.
'The two things I'm most proud of this season have been the stable's record in two-year-old races and our performance at Saturday metropolitan meetings.'
Bjorn Baker hold Tyler Schiller aloft after they combined with Belclare to win The Invitation at Royal Randwick last October. Picture:On Saturday at Rosehill Gardens, Baker heads into the Listed Winter Challenge (1500m), Sydney's last black-type contest of the season, with two strong chances – race favourite Robusto and inform galloper Thunderlips.
Robusto joined the stable in September last year and claimed the $2m Group 2 The Ingham to give Baker one of his biggest wins of 2024/25 and he's heads into Saturday's feature off a luckless second in the Listed Winter Stakes (1500m) three weeks ago.
• Pride primed to continue winter hot streak at Rosehill
'I think he goes close with clear air in the straight in the Winter Stakes,' he said.
'He's in great condition, come on from the last run, drawn well and even though he's got 60 kilos, I think he's well weighted.
'His work on Tuesday was definitely the best we've seen from him this preparation so from that point of view, back onto a good track from a good gate, he's going to be very hard to beat.'
Robusto, winning The Ingham in December last year, is the favourite in Saturday's Winter Challenge. Picture: Getty Images
Stablemate Thunderlips has won three of his last five starts and continues to please his trainer with how he is coping with the workload as a rising five-year-old.
'I just wonder if we should have been a bit more positive last time and if we had, would he have finished closer?' Baker said.
'Wet or dry, he'll handle it, Ash Morgan jumps back on and he's suited at 1500m.
'He's not out of the race.'
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Another prolific horse to the stable this season has been Disneck which resumes from a spell in the Schweppes Open Sprint Handicap (1100m).
A three-time Saturday winner from his precious five starts over the summer, Baker declared the Trapeze Artist gelding is coming up well ahead of his five-year-old season.
'The one thing we did learn last preparation is you have to put him where he's comfortable and that means do absolutely nothing early which means he's usually well back in the field,' he said.
'Fast pace and a good track is what he needs and he looks like he'll get that on Saturday but it's never ideal getting back over 1100m at Rosehill.'
Disneck won three times during his last campaign in the summer. Picture: Getty Images
The stable's other two runners are stable stalwarts Highlights and War Eternal, both resuming from a spell in the Toyota Forklifts Benchmark 88 Handicap (1300m).
'That would be a good race to win, they're great forklifts, I can vouch for that,' he said.
'Both horses are probably more forward than I've had them resuming in the past.
'Two old war horses that will both be over the odds and don't be surprised if they run better than the market expects.'
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With the 2025/26 season less than two weeks away, how does Baker plan to match or eclipse his achievements over the past 12 months?
'Things are shaping up well and we're up for the challenge,' he said.
'There's going to be more pressure on to continue our success and there are also going to be more opportunities with the bloodstock we have.
'We're getting some horses from Godolphin and only this week Darby Racing bought us another couple of nice, tried horses in Mayfair and Snack Bar on the Inglis Digital platform.
'We've also got the best team of yearlings we've ever had.
'I've definitely got more, and I've also got much better quality than what we've had in the past.'
Originally published as Bjorn Baker has rewritten his record books this season and is chasing another feature at Rosehill on Saturday
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