Duo top ladder for second time
The Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman training juggernaut steamrolled their way to a second national trainers’ premiership off the back of an outstanding season of feature race success.
After finishing runner-up to the Te Akau Racing team of Stephen Autridge and Jamie Richards last year, following their inaugural title in 2014-15, the Baker-forsman combination ramped up their efforts this year as they claimed a remarkable 19 black-type succeses among their haul of 107 wins.
Those 107 wins netted $2.92m in prizemoney and were achieved at a remarkable strike rate of 5.15 with 45 per cent of their 551 starters finishing in the first three placings.
Adding plenty of icing to an oversized cake were the five stakes wins achieved in Australia, including the Australian Derby and Oaks double with Jon Snow and Bonneval.
Asked to reflect on his year’s work, Murray Baker was quick to point out that it was a continuation of the hard work achieved by the stable over an extended period.
‘‘We’ve certainly had a great year, but I think it really just continues on from the level we have been at for the past four or five years,’’ he said. ‘‘I think this is the most number of black-type wins we have achieved with the 24 across New Zealand and Australia.
‘‘Last season we probably won more prizemoney thanks to wins like the Caulfield Cup with Mongolian Khan and the Emirates Stakes with Turn Me Loose.
Baker has plenty of praise for the team involved at the stable, including his training partner Andrew Forsman.
‘‘Andrew is a huge asset to the stable with his knowledge and skills,’’ he said.
‘‘We have a staff of twenty something who do an outstanding job and really put in the hard yards.
‘‘Without that we certainly wouldn’t be in the position we are now.’’
‘‘We managed to get success across the board with a mix of older and younger horses although it was our three-year-olds that probably got the most attention as a group.
‘‘Jon Snow, Bonneval, Saracino and Eleonora all did well in Australia while Honey Rider and Nicoletta were also very good back home here.
‘‘Older horses like Lizzie L’amour, Saint Emilion, Coldplay, Charmont and Mime all won feature races so I can’t really say that I can single out one win or horse from what was a very, very good group for us.’’