Taming the spring

Usually a mid-winter phone call to Murray Baker in New Zealand is similar to having a mid-season conversation with a Richmond Tigers’ supporter – not much happy news.

While Baker had his usual gripe about the troubled state of racing in New Zealand, the economy and the boggy wet tracks on which horses “struggled to run their last 400m in even time”, the Cambridge trainer was surprisingly buoyant when I spoke to him late last week.

The reason – Lion Tamer.

Baker, who last spring trained (in partnership with his son Bjorn) Lion Tamer to win the Group 1 Victoria Derby (2500m, Flemington), believes the rising 4YO is back and firing after missing the autumn carnivals in New Zealand and Sydney because of injury, a legacy of kicking the wall of his stable early in the year.

“Lion Tamer has come back in great order. He really is pleasing me in his work. I am looking forward to Melbourne with him,” Baker said.

Lion Tamer is somewhat of a forgotten horse. In a recent story in the Sydney Daily Telegraph, chief racing writer Ray Thomas, with the help of others, bemoaned the lack of a genuine middle-distance star with Cox Plate aspirations in Australia’s and New Zealand’s ranks, but strangely he didn’t mention Lion Tamer.

Baker admits that he was concerned that Lion Tamer would be able to return to his best after such a long break from racing. The son of Storming Home is a heady colt, and he proved difficult to get focused when he returned to training at Cambridge in early June.

“He was pretty hard to handle for the first few weeks, but as he got fitter he just switched on. Since then he hasn’t missed a beat.”

Lion Tamer will be entered for the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups as well as the Cox Plate. Baker concedes that Lion Tamer’s best chance of a major win in the spring could be at Moonee Valley in the famous weight-for-age race over 2040m.

“He proved last spring, when he was second behind Rekindled Interest in the (AAMI) Vase (over 2040m) on Cox Plate day, that he handles the Valley surface, which is very important,” he said.

The Vase was the first time the colt was ridden forward – he came from last to win the Listed Ming Dynasty Quality (1400m, Randwick) six weeks earlier – and jockey Hugh Bowman employed similar tactics to dominate the Victoria Derby seven days after the Vase and win by 6.5 lengths on a slow track.

Baker said he is yet to decide on the exact spring program for Lion Tamer, although the horse is likely to start off in New Zealand in the Group 1 Makfi Challenge Stakes (WFA, 1400m, Hastings) – formerly the Mudgway Stakes – on August 27. After that there is the Group 1 Windsor Park Stakes (WFA, 1600m, Hastings) on September 17 and the Group 1 Spring Classic (WFA, 2040m, Hastings) on October 2 – this is a similar program to the one planned for New Zealand’s other classy colt Jimmy Choux.

However, Baker has the option of coming to Melbourne earlier in September, kicking off his Melbourne program in the Group 1 Underwood Stakes (WFA, 1800m, Caulfield) on September 17 – the lure of greater prizemoney in Australia (the AUD$1 is about NZ$1.30) just might outweigh staying at home.

Baker also has his grand stayer Harris Tweed back in work and likely to head to Melbourne in September, as he did last year. The rangy gelding, runner-up, behind Descarado, in last year’s Group 1 Caulfield Cup and fifth, behind Americain, in the Melbourne Cup, has had a throat operation.

“We flew over the same vet that did So You Think (Dr Jonathan Lumsden from Sydney) and he was happy. Harris Tweed made a bit of a noise last spring, and I reckon it was the reason he didn’t quite finish the Caulfield Cup off after looming to win. Hopefully, we get the same result as So You Think,” Baker said.

Baker’s son Bjorn has settled in Sydney, training a small team in his own right out of Warwick Farm.

Photo: Lion Tamer (Hugh Bowman) winning last year’s Victoria Derby at Flemington.