Lion Tamer to miss Turnbull

Lion Tamer will miss Sunday’s Group 1 Turnbull Stakes (2000m, Flemington) in preference for the Group 1 Yalumba Stakes (2000m) the following Saturday.

Trainer Murray Baker confirmed this morning that the Underwood Stakes winner is better suited under the weight-for-age scale at Caulfield than he would be at Flemington, which is set weights and penalties.

“He gets a penalty in the Turnbull, which also is three weeks to the Cox Plate, so I think Caulfield will suit him better,” he said.

“He’s very fit after having a long preparation. I’ll give him a solid gallop at Flemington tomorrow (Thursday) morning, which will be his first serious gallop since the Underwood.”

Baker is following a similar path to the Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup as employed by previous Underwood Stakes winners Jeune (1994) and So You Think last year. It also is the path he followed in 1990 with his former star The Phanton, who won the Underwood on the way to finishing second behind Kingston Rule in the Melbourne Cup.

Baker still plans to fly from New Zealand to be in Melbourne on the weekend to overseer Harris Tweed’s run in the Listed Bart Cummings (2500m, Flemington) – the race he won last year on his way to finishing second behind Descarado in the Caulfield Cup and fifth behind Americain in the Melbourne Cup.

“Like he did last year, he’s thriving. He still looks like a hat-rack, that’s just him, but his work is sharper and he’s ready to run a good race. I’m glad there is some rain about in Melbourne,” Baker said.

Baker also is considering bringing stayer Mr. Tipsy to Melbourne for some of the country cups. “He won first up at 1600 metres and he’s going really well. I think a race like the Cranbourne Cup, or the Moe Cup, is ideal for him.”

The Baker family has had a mixed week. Yesterday Baker’s son, Bjorn, who is now based in Sydney, trained his first winner in his new environment – Sky Gaze at Bathurst – but this morning euphoria turn to despair when one of his prized young horses, an unraced colt by Lonhro, broke a leg in trackwork at Warwick Farm.

Photo: Harris Tweed (Brad Rawiller), the “hat-rack”, strides to the post at Caulfield last year.