Trainer Bjorn Baker has concluded a remarkable week with a significant local victory.
His rapidly improving gelding, Midnight Dynamite, triumphed in Saturday’s Listed Civic Stakes (1400m) at Royal Randwick.
This win follows closely on the heels of Overpass’s gallant third place in the King Charles III Stakes at Royal Ascot. Overpass is slated to compete again this week in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes (1200m).
Baker, who was trackside in England for Overpass’s debut, left the horse in the skilled care of his racing manager Luke Hilton. Baker returned to Sydney on Thursday night to oversee his domestic stable.
“It was a great trip, and he ran so well, Overpass,” Baker stated. “We’ve got a pretty special horse here too in Midnight Dynamite. He is putting together a marvellous record for Darby Racing, and he was dominant today.”
Midnight Dynamite is amassing an impressive record, with eight wins from twenty career starts and three victories from his four starts this preparation.
Baker admitted that the horse’s consistent improvement has caught the stable by surprise, and he feels the four-year-old has not yet reached his peak.
“He’s been a horse who has surprised us, just how well he is going, and how he keeps improving,” he said. “When he gets in better grade, if he ever hits a really wet track, he’s going to be very tough to beat.”
The Winter Stakes (1400m) at Rosehill on July 4 is the probable next target for Midnight Dynamite, and jockey Jason Collett shares Baker’s positive assessment of the gelding’s potential for further advancement.
“He is only getting better,” Collett remarked. “This preparation he has gone to another level so that says time is a good thing for him. He ticks a lot of boxes, and he’s going through the handicaps nicely.”
Midnight Dynamite ($2.60 favourite) secured victory by 1-3/4 lengths over Whinchat ($19), who had dictated terms up front and fought on gamely, with Cool Jakey ($5) a further short neck adrift.
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