Racing: Emotional Rags to Riches win for Baker

Michael Coleman rides Rags to Riches to victory ahead of Lisa Cropp on Korau Road. Pictures / Greg Bowker

Yes, Denny Baker, hard man and top horseman, did break down making his presentation speech after Rags To Riches won Saturday's $150,000 Easter Handicap at Ellerslie.

It was difficult for him to complete the speech, but nowhere near as difficult as the life downturns that were behind Baker's faltering.

So many things were going through his mind while he was holding the microphone.

Like his beloved sister taking her own life in Aotea Square a few years ago.

Like the kidney cancer that could have claimed his life.

Like nearly losing an arm after being brutally savaged by a stallion many years ago.

And the long, hard struggle to survive in the often fierce world of thoroughbred breeding.

With an appropriate name like Rags To Riches, you wanted this win to be a triumph for the battler.

It wasn't.

Mark and Denny Baker race the horse with billionaire Irish businessman Eamon Cleary, and although Ralph Manning might in some quarters be seen as the typical battling trainer, in truth Manning is very wealthy as a result of trading horses to Asia and from land acquisition.

He is also extremely hard working.

This was the first major racetrack victory for Denny Baker.

"Group ones have always been close to my heart because we've broken in so many good ones at our place, Diamond Lover, Carsons Cash, Lycra."

Cleary has business interests around the world and, like most Irishmen, a major love affair with the thoroughbred.

Cleary bought an ownership share in the top New Zealand jumpers Rand and Real Tonic and became known to the Bakers when he bought the property across the road from their Hallmark Stud in Te Kauwhata.

While the Herald was interviewing Denny Baker yesterday morning, Cleary called on Baker's cellphone to congratulate him from a party at a rodeo in Argentina.

Cleary walked across the road to introduce himself when he found out Denny Baker's son Mark had spent two years as an assistant to legendary Irish trainer Vincent O'Brien at Ballydoyle.

The partners bought Rags To Riches for $22,000 at a weanling sale with the idea of turning a profit at the yearling sales.

That didn't eventuate and neither did the second option of selling him as a made horse at barrier trial stage.

Manning has always had a good opinion of Rags To Riches and so has his winning rider on Saturday, Michael Coleman.

Manning has had his best season as a trainer, which is not surprising.

What had kept him out of the headlines and led to the image of battling trainer is the fact that for more than a decade he sold just about every developing horse in his stable to overseas markets in much the same way as Trevor McKee made his money for so many years.

With many of those markets now drying up it has meant larger numbers for Manning to race here.

A few months ago Manning made the off-hand remark that he'd like to ease back on his operation and train perhaps only eight or nine horses.

But that can have strange implications.

The astute Manning did a wonderful job with champion 3-year-old filly Seachange, a moderately attractive filly physically, with very unattractive legs.

If you were culling a big team of untried horses down to single-digit numbers, Seachange would have been very lucky to make the cut.

Rags To Riches, who has looked better with each preparation, might have also struggled early.

Magnetism, Manning's third stable star, is a much more imposing physical type and probably would have made the A team.

Instead of one under the reduction rules, Manning will now have three stars to attack the Hawkes Bay spring carnival.

At the victory presentation, Coleman reminded Manning that at the same weekend last year the pair combined for a stakes win at Randwick with Magnetism.

Rags To Riches jumped well for Coleman and trailed pacemaker Korau Road most of the way. He challenged the pacemaker at the 300m mark and won comfortably by a length.

Korau Road fought well for second, with La Sizeranne boxing on well for third after looking like a threat 200m out.

"We didn't have a plan on how to ride him but once he jumped well I was happy to have him forward," Coleman said of Rags To Riches. "He gave me a good run. Things couldn't have worked out much better in the run."