FRESH off the plane from a whirlwind Kentucky Derby tour, Bjorn Baker was thrilled to be welcomed back with what he described as an ideal draw for Music Magnate in Saturday’s $ 700,000 Doomben 10,000.
Music Magnate is bidding to join Falvelon and Apache Cat as dual 10,000 winners this century and Baker felt his chances were bolstered with barrier 7 after 15 runners accepted for the sprint, which reduces to 1200m this year.
Music Magnate wins the Victory Stakes at Eagle Farm. Picture: Natasha Wood, Trackside PhotographySource:Supplied
“They tell me he’s been doing everything right since I’ve been away,” Baker said.
“Jeff (Lloyd) has been riding him in all of his work and all of the reports have been very good.
“From that draw, we should be able to slot in just behind the speed and get the right run.”
Music Magnate is a $ 6.50 chance with UBET to go back-to-back and cap a memorable week for Baker.
“It’s the first Kentucky Derby I’ve been to and it was a pretty amazing experience. Just awesome,” Baker said.
Peter and Paul Snowden also fared well, with Russian Revolution (5) now a firming $ 3 favourite and Redzel (3) into $ 8.
Conversely, Fell Swoop was given a turn in betting to $ 6 after coming up with gate 14 for Damian Browne.
“Russian Revolution was the best backed ‘all-in’ (where he opened $ 12) by far and, with him grabbing a good gate, we expect he’ll start a pretty warm favourite,” UBET’s Nick Curry said.
“Redzel is also drawn well and could be the big shortener. He continues to be specked at a good price, so perhaps we’ll see a Snowden quinella.”
Out of sorts Group 1 winner Takedown ($ 17) has also eased further in the market after being allotted the extreme outside barrier.
Double digit draws have proven big obstacles to overcome in both of the Doomben sprints in modern times.
The last 10,000 winner to jump from wider than nine was Mr. Innocent (12) back in 2000.
That was from the 1350m start.
Effectively, this year’s 10,000 replaces the BTC Cup, where you have to go back to Spark Of Life (13) in 2005 to find the last horse to win from a wide draw.
Doomben 10,000 (1200m)
1 Fell Swoop (14) Matthew Dale, Damian Browne, 58.5kg
2 Japonisme (1) Chris Waller, Larry Cassidy, 58.5kg
3 Takedown (15) Gary Moore, Brenton Avdulla, 58.5kg
4 Rebel Dane (10) Gary Portelli, Robbie Fradd, 58.5kg
5 Music Magnate (7) Bjorn Baker, Jeff Lloyd, 58.5kg
6 Redzel (3) Peter & Paul Snowden, 58.5kg
7 Counterattack (2) Chris Waller, Opie Bosson (2), 58.5kg
8 Start Wondering(8) Evan & JJ Rayner, Johnathan Parkes, 58.5kg
9 Upstart Pride (12) Michael Nolan, 58.5kg
10 The Monstar (9) Brett Cavanough, James Orman, 58.5kg
11 Sooboog (4) Darren Weir, 58.5kg
12 Russian Revolution (5) Peter & Paul Snowden, 57kg
13 Derryn (6) David & B Hayes & T Dabernig, Regan Bayliss, 57kg
14 El Divino (11) Darren Weir, 57kg
15 In Her Time (13) Benjamin Smith, Joshua Parr, 56.5kg
Originally published as Music Magnate on song for 10,000
Sport | news.com.au — Australia’s #1 news site
