By John Schell
Warwick Farm trainer Bjorn Baker will look to boost his claims to success in the $3 million Big Dance when Hollywood Hero chases a second straight Coonamble Cup win on Sunday.
Big player: Bjorn Baker.Credit: Getty
Baker has Hollywood Hero set to contest the $75,000 Geronimo – New Holland Coonamble Showcase Gold Cup (1600m), where Dubbo Cup-winning jockey Kody Nestor will take the ride on the five-year-old winner of four races and more than $330,000 in prizemoney.
“He’s a consistent horse and he’s rarely too far from the action,” Baker said of Hollywood Hero, which has been placed in 12 of his 23 starts. “He ran home really well to finish third in the Dubbo Cup at his latest start, and he did come through that race last year before going on to win the Coonamble Cup, so the formlines look solid.”
Nestor won the Dubbo Cup aboard Sneak Preview, which will contest the Keady Family Coonamble Showcase Crystal Sprint (1200m) today with a mammoth 67 kilograms.
“We are very happy to have Kody hop on Hollywood Hero at Coonamble for us,” said Baker. “He’s a very good jockey and I’m sure he’ll give the horse every chance.”
Hollywood Hero went on to finish second at Randwick after last year’s Coonamble Cup, then ran 10th in the Big Dance when beaten 5.8 lengths behind the Sara Ryan-trained Attractable.
“All going well we will get him to the Big Dance again on the first Tuesday in November,” Baker said. “And if he can get there he can run a really good race if the breaks go his way.”
It will be another Ryan-trained runner in Roma Avenue that will prove hardest for Hollywood Hero to beat at Coonamble.
Roma Avenue was a long-priced winner at Rosehill when second up from a spell and has since finished third behind the classy Major Beel at Randwick, before a seventh of eight behind subsequent The Metropolitan third placegetter Unusual Legacy.
Supplied by Racing NSW
Full form and race replays available at racingnsw.com.au
