Baker taking all before him on record-breaking run
Murray Baker has left the Million Dollar Man behind.
Baker’s Cambridge stable has earned more than $12 million in stakes over the past three years.
Glamour galloper Dundeel contributed $6.3 million in earnings in just two seasons but his retirement has not resulted in Baker fading from the limelight.
Instead, Baker and training partner Andrew Forsman have had another stunning season.
Six
Baker is set to clinch his first premiership, has won 17 group races, including six at Group I level, and has become just the second trainer to top $3 million in stakes in New Zealand.
The first to reach $3 million was Mark Walker, whose team earned $3.7 million in 2008-09, when New Zealand had six races with a stakes of $1 million or more, including the New Zealand Derby at $2.2 million and the Kelt Stakes at $2 million.
That helped Walker’s star pair of Princess Coup and Tell A Tale win $2.3 million between them.
Only a handful of other trainers have topped $2 million in stakes in New Zealand, the first being Jim Gibbs, in the late 1980s, while Baker’s team earned $2.4 million in 2008-09.
Baker’s stakes for the current term also top $4 million when Mongolian Khan’s Australian Derby win is added to the pot.
The stable recorded win No 91 for the season in New Zealand when Massa Lu won the juvenile at Avon- dale on Friday. Baker and Forsman now have a 25 win lead over Lisa Latta in the premiership, with 12 weeks remaining in the season.
Baker’s previous best for a season, in a lengthy career, was 73 and the former first class cricketer is now in sight of his first century. The stable will have up to seven runners on Saturday, spread between Rotorua and New Plymouth, including Rotorua Cup topweight Decorah, who will be joined by Tiffany’s and race rivals Chill Bill and Mistaar. FAIRFAX NZ