Baker cooking up his own Everest storm

I Wish I Win is the only member of the 12-horse field for The Everest with the distinctive (NZ) suffix, but there’s more than one layer to New Zealand’s involvement in Saturday’s A$20 million dash for cash.
Champion expats Chris Waller and James McDonald will be out to extend their Everest record, having combined with 2021 winner Nature Strip two years after Waller saddled up Yes Yes Yes for victory.
Waller will be double-handed in the 2023 edition, with Espiona running under his own Chris Waller Racing slot and Shinzo for international powerhouse Coolmore, while McDonald is pinning his hopes on the Gai Waterhouse/Adrian Bott-trained Hawaii Five Oh.
There’s yet another Kiwi factor, one that is further below the radar yet typically confident he can make an impact.
After walking away from his original profession as a pharmacist, Bjorn Baker cut his teeth as a trainer in Cambridge alongside his Hall of Fame father Murray. In 2011 he made the bold decision to relocate to Sydney, where he rose from humble beginnings to now be more than holding his own amongst the elite ranks in one of racing’s toughest jurisdictions.
Last autumn Baker won the Gr. 1 Tancred Stakes with Arapaho, followed by a West Australian raid for victory in Perth’s first slot-holder race, the A$2 million The Quokka with Overpass. A month later the same horse was narrowly denied a Group One win in the Doomben 10,000, beaten by last year’s Everest winner Giga Kick.
Overpass had been amongst the beaten brigade in that race, albeit less than three lengths back in sixth place behind the Victorian three-year-old. Now, having split Everest rivals Private Eye and Buenos Noches when second in last month’s Gr. 2 The Shorts, Baker believes Overpass is in a strong position to show his worth in The Everest.
“Hindsight’s a great thing, but last year he didn’t have a perfect preparation with wet tracks and what not,” Baker told RaceForm earlier this week. “He’s in a better place now – he’s a gelding and better for it and everything has gone to plan.
“I’ve learnt that the key is spacing his races. Back in the autumn we pulled him out of the TJ Smith because of the wet track and headed to Perth, I’m sure the extra time between races worked for him, and the same a month later when he pushed Giga Kick so close up in Brisbane.
“It’s a month since his fresh-up run in The Shorts, he had a nice hitout when he won his trial last week and I’m sure he’s ready to run the race of his life.”
In his well-known up-front manner, Baker has laid his cards on the table ahead of Saturday’s big event, outlining the same tactics that saw him narrowly hold out star local mare Amelia’s Jewel in The Quokka over 1200m around Perth’s Ascot track.
“We’re going to look to lead, that’s how he has gone his best races and it’s what we’re planning to do again on Saturday. He has to run up to his best to get some of it, and even though he’s an underdog against this field, that’s not a bad place to be.”