Stars Align For O' Ole And Bjorn Baker In Phenomenal 2yo Classic Victory
Yesterday at 11:25 AM
by Kit Gow/TTR AusNZ
Magic Millions racing resumed on Friday night and it delivered an emotional win for Tommy Berry with O' Ole (Aus) (Ole Kirk {Aus}) in the R. Listed Magic Millions 2YO Classic (video). The feat was accomplished 11 years after his late brother Nathan guided Unencumbered (Aus) (Testa Rossa {Aus}) to victory in the same race for the same trainer, Bjorn Baker. The filly burst out of the pack within the last furlong of the R. Listed Magic Millions 2YO Classic and flew home to defeat perennial bridesmaid Memo (Aus) (Capitalist {Aus}) by 1.5l.
Second on debut in the G3 Gimcrack S. to Bel Merci (Extreme Choice), O' Ole went one better in the R. Listed Magic Millions Wyong 2YO Classic–relegating Memo to second place–before repeating the performance in the Gold Coast feature.
“All the stars aligned today,” Berry was emotional post-race. “She's a beautiful filly, and is by Ole Kirk, who I had a lot to do with.”
For Baker's bloodstock agent Jim Clarke, the stars certainly did align, “She [O' Ole] drew the exact same gate as Unencumbered, and got back in the exact same way. It was all over at the 200 [-metre mark], and it was an amazing result.
“Bjorn has always had an opinion of her and this was always the long term plan. To get her here and to deliver is an amazing result.
“She was probably the filly at the sales last year that the whole team zeroed in on. I didn't expect to get there and fall in love with an Ole Kirk out of a Sepoy (Aus) mare and pay that sort of money, but she had a phenomenal physique and every time we saw her parade perfectly. Fortunately she has done the same in her racing career so far.”
A delayed flight meant that Baker only arrived trackside in time to join his team in celebrations.
“From day dot, she was a superstar, and he [Unencumbered] was very much like her, strong and fast from the start,” he said. “I got very emotional, I was in a taxi thinking of Nathan [Berry], we miss him a lot.”
Amongst the filly's owners are Baker's stable vet, Dr. Alan Frogley, and his breaker, Lewis Page.
“We're thrilled, just shows you that [the team] is doing a great job. We found a lovely filly by a first-season sire, and it's so important to get back here for Magic Millions year on year.”
The fourth foal of provincial winner Vellor (Aus) (Sepoy {Aus}), O' Ole was a A$325,000 purchase for Bjorn Baker Racing and Clarke Bloodstock (FBAA) from the draft of breeders Gilgai Farm at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale in January. Vellor is a daughter of triple Group 2-winning Hosannah (Aus) (Octagonal {NZ}), making her a half-sister to G2 Magic Night S. winner Altar (Aus) (Commands {Aus}). She has a yearling full-sister to O' Ole still to appear in a sales catalogue, and revisited Vinery Stud's popular Ole Kirk again in September.
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