Baker Rise Continues on Sydney Trainer Table

A gritty win by 2YO War Eternal (Pierro-Aleria, by Fastnet Rock) at Royal Randwick on Saturday provided ex-pat Kiwi trainer Bjorn Baker with a victory that propelled him into second place on the Sydney Metropolitan Trainers’ Premiership (56 wins), behind only runaway leader and fellow Kiwi Chris Waller (159), reports NZ Racing Desk. He is also in third place behind Waller and Kris Lees on the New South Wales state-wide premiership with 116 wins and over A$6.6 million in prizemoney. His 2020/21 performance comes off the back of another stellar year in 2019/20 and firmly establishes him in the upper echelon of the Sydney trainers ranks. “I had a really good season last year and we’ve managed to back that up again over the last 12 months,” Baker said, adding, “Actually, if you had said to me at the start of the season we would be lying second on the Metro premiership, I would probably have said you were mad. I think one of our biggest success stories though is how many horses we have managed to graduate from midweek company through to the ultra-competitive Saturday racing grade… We certainly don’t have the numbers and the level of investment that some of our main rivals have, but we have shown we can punch above our weight despite that.”

War Eternal pushed Baker to second place in Sydney (pic: Steve Hart)