Trainer Bjorn Baker is starting to get excited about his evergreen speedster Overpass getting ready to head abroad to Royal Ascot.
“He’ll head to Melbourne next week, have a jump out, then head over to England,” he said.
“The plan to run in the King Charles III Stakes has been in the back of my mind and [owners] Darby Racing’s for a while.
“He’s getting on a bit, I didn’t think the Doomben 10,000 was the best race for him. No doubt [travelling] is a risk, but he’s been a phenomenal horse for us, and he’s travelled well to Perth previously. He has the right profile to travel well and run well.”
Australian sprinters have a good record in the Royal Ascot dash, with Choisir (2003), Takeover Target (2006), Miss Andretti (2007), Scenic Blast (2009), Nature Strip (2002) and Asfoora (2025) all flying the flag.
Overpass carries Darby’s white and blue colours, which Baker hopes can win a couple of races at Randwick on Saturday, including zippy pair Snack Bar and Amazing Eagle.
The duo tuned up for their returns with a recent trial, which was won by stablemate Big Papa. Big Papa, for the record, won a jump out on Thursday, and will resume himself next Saturday in Sydney.
“Snack Bar didn’t quite get a win last prep, but he’s come up well, he’s trialled super, and he’s hard to miss because of his lovely grey colour,” Baker said of the former James Cummings’ galloper.
“I haven’t had too many greys, but the ones I’ve had, I’ve had luck with, including horses like Zaratone, Frosty Rocks and Fun Fact.
“The key with Snack Bar is to have one last crack at them. He’s well set up, and the 1000m suits.
“Amazing Eagle has had a fair bit of time off, we’ve had one or two issues with him, but he’s trialled well, he’s fit, and the 1000m is ideal. I’m just mindful he’s been off the track a while, which is why I’d probably lean towards Snack Bar.”
Thebudgiesmugla will also carry the syndicate’s colours in the Sporting Chance Cancer Foundation Handicap over his 2400m pet distance. Thebudgiesmugla showed plenty of cheek to keep kicking at Gosford last start after being forced to contend with a big weight and ordinary gate.
“I’m really happy with him, he’s building nicely and the 2400m will suit – he’s a big chance,” Baker said.
Josh Parr, who will accompany Overpass in England next month, rides Thebudgiesmugla and Snack Bar later in the day. Thebudgiesmugla has won his only two starts at the trip.
The Baker team will also be represented in Brisbane on Saturday, with Midnight Dynamite sweating on getting a run in the BRC Sprint at the end of the day. Midnight Dynamite is third emergency but $3.50 favourite with some bookies after his dominant win last weekend under the big weight.
Our Queen is also on the quick back-up and heavily fancied, especially with the booking of jockey Ben Thompson – not to mention if there is a spit of rain – while Baker made a point of mentioning two-year-old filly, I Am Dirty, that never looked like losing at Gosford last start. I Am Dirty got the better of her rivals at the top of the straight, and had plenty in the tank when she crossed the line.
“She’s always promised a lot, I thought she was good at Gosford, but she’s improved since then; I’m confident she will run really well,” Baker said.
I Am Dirty is a $3.10 hope behind Sydney filly Katoto, who features the Chris Waller-James McDonald trainer-jockey combination.
No cheer for Beer
Mitchell Beer never wants to this watch this particular race again.
A couple of months ago, Beer travelled the four-and-a-half hours from Kembla Grange to the Sapphire Coast to watch Magical Moments race.
The four-year-old mare was hard held on the turn, but kept running into dead ends all the way up the straight, only to get out late and run second.
“The four-and-a-half hour drive home suddenly felt like 12 hours after watching a horse get beaten like that – I’ll never watch it again,” Beer said.
“I actually felt sorry for the jockey [Jack Martin]. He could have ridden the horse the same way 10 times over.
“He just had nowhere to go. He came in and said, ‘I’m so sorry’, and I was like, ‘mate, don’t apologise’.
“Talk about ‘sick beats’, that was definitely one.
“You could train a winning treble and get about 10 text messages from mates. You train one that gets beaten, and you’ll get 40 messages.
“That’s racing. You fast forward a couple of weeks and the wheel turns.
“It’s not often you get one beaten at the Sapphire Coast, then back up a couple of weeks later at Kembla and you think she’ll be hard to beat. I guess it made the $9 juicier her next start, but you couldn’t have told me that on the drive home from the Sapphire Coast.”
Magical Moments won at Kembla, then backed it up last start with an even more dominant front-running triumph.
Beer will give her a crack at Randwick on Saturday, and with the good draw, will give plenty of cheek for a long way.
The trainer also saddles up former Team Snowden runner Mafia, who looked gone last start at the Kensington track, only to fight back and win.
“Mafia is also a Darby horse, they decided he was probably better placed in a different environment, he does a lot of work at the beach, he’s an older gelding, and he’s been great,” Beer said.
“You wouldn’t have wanted to be in the trenches with him earlier in his career because as soon as he was headed, it was all over.
“But he didn’t do that the other day, and based on our form and data, his last run was a career peak.
“He was strong on the line. We always wanted to get him out to 1400m, and he rolls along at a good tempo. If he doesn’t get 1400m, he wouldn’t have kicked back the way he did the other day – his best work was the last 50m, so that was encouraging.”
Beer said he learned from Mafia’s first preparation that he improved the deeper he pushed into his campaign.
Dylan Gibbons will team with Beer and co-trainer George Carpenter for both their runners.
Geemes, a runner-up in the Canberra Cup, will trial on Friday before heading north to chase some black-type races, while Beer gave a nudge for Sunrise to land the cash on the Gold Coast at their night meeting.
