Racing
Arapaho dominant in Sydney Cup
A week after winning the Doncaster Mile with Stefi Magnetica, trainer Bjorn Baker has added a Sydney Cup with Arapaho.
A successful The Championships for the Bjorn Baker stable got even better with stable stalwart Arapaho storming to a dominant victory in the Group 1 Sydney Cup on Saturday.
Baker won the time-honoured Doncaster Mile with Stefi Magnetica on the opening day of this year's The Championships at Randwick last weekend, and the trainer added another feature on the second day with eight-year-old Arapaho ($20) sprinting clear of his rivals at the end of 3200m under jockey Rachel King to score by three lengths in a track record time of 3:18.31.
Waltham ($51) ran home into second, a half-length ahead of third-placed River Of Stars ($20) while $3.50 favourite Alalcance weakened out of it in the straight after leading to finish 17th.
Arapaho was already a winner of the Group 1 Tancred Stakes (2400m) two years ago and answered any distance doubts in emphatic fashion in Saturday's Sydney Cup, having finished fourth two years ago and 11th in the 2022 Melbourne Cup.
Baker joined his father Murray on the Sydney Cup winning trainers' honour roll, with the now-retired Murray winning the event in 1992 with My Eagle Eye.
Baker said he took a leaf out of his father's approach by giving Arapaho a solid piece of work on Thursday ahead of the Sydney Cup.
"We get a bit emotional about this horse at the stables, we love him," Baker said.
"And we gave him a bit of Murray Baker treatment on Thursday and he relaxed beautifully today.
"That entails just doing a solid piece of ground work, and he's a sound horse. We know he's got acceleration, and that's where having a father that won everything but the Melbourne Cup comes into it.
"It was a great ride by Rachel King. She just held him up, held him up, and he exploded which he can do."
While Jason Collett was aboard for Stefi Magnetica's Doncaster win, King continued her association with Arapaho in the Sydney Cup and said the gelding relaxed beautifully in a good spot.
King said Arapaho was "bolting" coming to the home turn but the jockey bided her time and waited until the 300m before letting the gelding loose when a gap appeared.
Arapaho sprinted quickly to open up a winning break, with Waltham running into second.
"You can just see what this horse means to everyone," King said.
"He's just been a superstar.
"He's won races we never thought he should have been in at the start.
"I probably had as many doubts as everyone else about 3200 metres, I wasn't quite sure. But I always say to everyone, 'I've never ridden a horse so honest'. He just tries."
Waltham's jockey Reece Jones said it was a super effort from the five-year-old to finish second while Tim Clark said favourite Alalcance had probably come to the end of her preparation.
"She just raced a bit keen in the blinkers," Clark said.
"Probably needs to conserve a bit more getting out to this trip."
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