Latest news with #MagicMillions2YOClassic
Courier-Mail
17-07-2025
- Sport
- Courier-Mail
Bjorn Baker aiming to end record-breaking season with another feature win at Rosehill
Don't miss out on the headlines from Horse Racing. Followed categories will be added to My News. 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. • PUNT LIKE A PRO: Become a Racenet iQ member and get expert tips – with fully transparent return on investment statistics – from Racenet's team of professional punters at our Pro Tips section. SUBSCRIBE NOW! '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.' • Rosehill Turf Talk: Cohen spies a $3 special on Saturday 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.' • Truck-driving hobby trainer sets sights on Sydney first 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
News.com.au
01-05-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
Matt Dunn moves on from Magic Millions disappointment ahead of exciting colt Torque To Be Sure's return at Eagle Farm
After being stuck in a Gold Coast Magic Millions pickle, one of the best youngsters Matt Dunn may have ever trained returns to the races on Saturday. Torque To Be Sure had qualified for the Magic Millions 2YO Classic in January but needed to trial before stewards' satisfaction in race week after a bar was placed on him because of his racing manners. • PUNT LIKE A PRO: Become a Racenet iQ member and get expert tips – with fully transparent return on investment statistics – from Racenet's team of professional punters at our Pro Tips section. SUBSCRIBE NOW! Torque To Be Sure had started the $1.55 favourite in the Aquis Gold Nugget but finished runner-up after racing ungenerously and being steadied on numerous occasions as well as hanging out. With the Magic Millions only a week away, stewards ordered Torque To Be Sure back to the trials before they would pass him to race. Dunn found a set of Lismore trials on the Thursday – only two days before the Gold Coast Magic Millions – but decided it was too close to the $3m race and instead sent him for a spell. As it turned out, the 2YO Classic was rescheduled to the following week because of torrential rain on race day but Torque To Be Sure was already in the spelling paddock. It was an annoying situation but, regardless, Dunn is sure he has a high-quality colt on his hands. Torque To Be Sure resumes in the Listed Dalrello Stakes (1000m) at Eagle Farm on Saturday where he has been strongly backed from his opening $6 price into the $4 favourite. Quietly Arrogant too good in the Aquis Gold Nugget ðŸ'° @blake_shinn @SnowdenRacing1 — 7HorseRacing ðŸ�Ž (@7horseracing) January 4, 2025 'I was very close to trialling him just before the Magic Millions to try to get him cleared to take his place, but I wasn't quite brave enough,' Dunn said. 'We were looking at trialling Thursday and running Saturday but I couldn't quite convince myself to do it. 'As it turned out, it would have been fine as the Magic Millions was postponed and run seven days later anyway. 'Everything has gone well with this colt since, he trialled a couple of times in April and he was perfect. 'He has got those extra few months of maturity now.' While Saturday's race is over the 1000m scamper, Dunn has aspirations of getting his colt to the 1600m of the Group 1 JJ Atkins on Stradbroke Handicap day in June. With that in mind, he wants jockey Andrew Mallyon to ride the colt back in the field and rattle home on Saturday. 'He is a very good horse, a very fast horse,' Dunn said. 'If you take his last run out of the equation, he has got the right attitude. 'As long as his brain lets him, he has got a pedigree to run a mile. 'Honestly, on Saturday, it's not the end of the world if he gets too far back and gets beaten. 'I'd much rather see him get back and finish at a million miles and hour and just miss, rather than over do things in the race.' Torque To Be Sure is still yet to break his maiden status, having finished runner-up at both starts including on debut in the $250,000 The Debut race at the Gold Coast in December. Dunn had intended stablemate Boom Torque to race in Sunday's $1m The Archer slot race in Rockhampton, in the first plank of a plan to lead to the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap.
Herald Sun
24-04-2025
- Sport
- Herald Sun
2025 Calaway Gal Stakes: Shaun Dwyer with Dragonne Rouge
Don't miss out on the headlines from Horse Racing. Followed categories will be added to My News. Shaun Dwyer enjoyed his 67th birthday on Monday and the wily Sunshine Coast trainer would love nothing better than to cap celebrations with a victory over the big stables in the Listed Calaway Gal Stakes at Eagle Farm on Saturday. The Group 1-winning trainer will saddle up $7.50 chance Dragonne Rouge in the $200,000 contest over 1200m for 2YO fillies, a precursor to the start of the Queensland Winter Carnival on Saturday week. She will go up against the likes of the Tony Gollan-trained star Hi Barbie ($2.90), fellow unbeaten filly Ha'penny Hatch (4.80), trained by Paul Shailer on the Gold Coast, and the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained Headbanger ($6). • PUNT LIKE A PRO: Become a Racenet iQ member and get expert tips – with fully transparent return on investment statistics – from Racenet's team of professional punters at our Pro Tips section. SUBSCRIBE NOW! Dwyer is hoping he can win another Group 1 – 21 years after his last – with Dragonne Rouge, who will be targeted towards the $1m JJ Atkins (1600m) on June 14 at Eagle Farm if she can continue the brilliant start to her fledgling career (two starts, two wins). In his heyday, Dwyer had about 80 horses in work, winning the 2004 Lightning Stakes with flying filly Regimental Gal, the 'Toowoomba Tornado' who the year before captured the rich Magic Millions 2YO Classic on the Gold Coast. These days, Dwyer's stable numbers have dwindled to about 15 and he has become the hunter rather than the hunted. 'I was a big stable once, I had 80-odd horses at Deagon there for a while,' Dwyer said. 'Those premier trainers, you've got to keep it in reality. They've got a lot of horses and the more they get, the better quality they get and they don't come for nothing. 'It's always good to get a horse (Dragonne Rouge) with that sort of ability. She's just so strong to the line and that's what you want.' • 'I was a bit green': Healey's time to shine after Alligator Blood regret Dwyer said he was quietly confident his filly could win on Saturday under the guidance of Andrew Mallyon, who takes the ride in the absence of Damien Thornton (who is riding Ha'penny Hatch) and Michael Rodd (Isti Star). 'When you've got a small team, you're hoping everything goes right and you've done the job,' he said. 'Fortunately I've been here a few times in my life and, yeah, I am pretty confident that if she can get the right ride then she'll go good. 'I think Andrew Mallyon is the ideal rider because he likes those midfield travels and he lets his horses find their feet.' • Video 'crystal clear' on animal cruelty allegation: lawyer Dwyer believed the wide expanse of Eagle Farm would suit Dragonne Rouge even better than her last-start victory at Doomben this month when she wore down odds-on favourite Get Ready Lass over 1110m to get the cash on a soft track. 'We've had the benefit of a couple of solid runs,' Dwyer said. 'I've got no doubt that the 1200m at Eagle Farm is probably going to suit her a lot better. 'She can just travel around on the bit and let down. I think her times the other day (at Doomben) were very good.' Originally published as Sunshine Coast trainer Shaun Dwyer puts a Dragonne Rouge victory in the 2025 Calaway Gal Stakes at the top of his birthday list
News.com.au
23-04-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
Sunshine Coast trainer Shaun Dwyer puts a Dragonne Rouge victory in the 2025 Calaway Gal Stakes at the top of his birthday list
Shaun Dwyer enjoyed his 67th birthday on Monday and the wily Sunshine Coast trainer would love nothing better than to cap celebrations with a victory over the big stables in the Listed Calaway Gal Stakes at Eagle Farm on Saturday. The Group 1 -winning trainer will saddle up $7.50 chance Dragonne Rouge in the $200,000 contest over 1200m for 2YO fillies, a precursor to the start of the Queensland Winter Carnival on Saturday week. She will go up against the likes of the Tony Gollan -trained star Hi Barbie ($2.90), fellow unbeaten filly Ha'penny Hatch (4.80), trained by Paul Shailer on the Gold Coast, and the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott -trained Headbanger ($6). Dwyer is hoping he can win another Group 1 – 21 years after his last – with Dragonne Rouge, who will be targeted towards the $1m JJ Atkins (1600m) on June 14 at Eagle Farm if she can continue the brilliant start to her fledgling career (two starts, two wins). In his heyday, Dwyer had about 80 horses in work, winning the 2004 Lightning Stakes with flying filly Regimental Gal, the 'Toowoomba tornado' who the year before captured rich Magic Millions 2YO Classic on the Gold Coast. These days, Dwyer's stable numbers have dwindled to about 15 and he has become the hunter rather than the hunted. 'I was a big stable once, I had 80-odd horses at Deagon there for a while,' Dwyer said. 'Those premier trainers, you've got to keep it in reality. They've got a lot of horses and the more they get, the better quality they get and they don't come for nothing. 'It's always good to get a horse (Dragonne Rouge) with that sort of ability. She's just so strong to the line and that's what you want.' ðŸ�‰ Dragonne Rouge makes it two from two with a win in the opener at Doomben! @BrisRacingClub | @_damienthornton | @dwyerracing — SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) April 12, 2025 • Dwyer said he was quietly confident his filly could win on Saturday under the guidance of Andrew Mallyon, who takes the ride in the absence of Damien Thornton (who is riding Ha'penny Hatch) and Michael Rodd (Isti Star). 'When you've got a small team, you're hoping everything goes right and you've done the job,' he said. 'Fortunately I've been here a few times in my life and, yeah, I am pretty confident that if she can get the right ride then she'll go good. 'I think Andrew Mallyon is the ideal rider because he likes those midfield travels and he lets his horses find their feet.' • Video 'crystal clear' on animal cruelty allegation: lawyer Dwyer believed the wide expanse of Eagle Farm would suit Dragonne Rouge even better than her last-start victory at Doomben this month when she wore down odds-on favourite Get Ready Lass over 1110m to get the cash on a soft track. 'We've had the benefit of a couple of solid runs,' Dwyer said. 'I've got no doubt that the 1200m at Eagle Farm is probably going to suit her a lot better. 'She can just travel around on the bit and let down. I think her times the other day (at Doomben) were very good.'
