King of the west Overpass goes back-to-back in The Quokka

Overpass has continued his western dominance by taking out The Quokka for a second straight year.

RAM Racing celebrating their 2024 The Quokka success.
RAM Racing celebrating their 2024 The Quokka success.

Two runnings of The Quokka for two Overpass and RAM Racing victories. The Bjorn Baker-trained gelding has again taken the RAM racing crew to the promised land, with his second consecutive success of the $5 million feature on Saturday afternoon.

Throwing in the Group 1 Winterbottom Stakes he won last December, Overpass has certainly taken a fond liking to the Ascot 1200m, improving his record to three victories over the course and distance from as many runs, and in turn robbing the locals of a tick under $5 million.

Hesitant to call the son of Vancouver a champion horse, Bjorn Baker was full of praise for the five-year-old and the impact he's had on the stable and connections.

"I'm a purist of racing. I'm not going to say he's a champion yet, he' going to need to do a bit more with the Group Ones but he's our champion, he's RAM Racing's champion, and he's Darby Racing's champion," Baker said.

"It was a great ride by Josh (Parr). He rode him like he was the best horse and I thought you could argue that he's probably got as consistent form as any sprinter in Australia, and I think he proved that today.

"It's not easy to win in Western Australia, a lot of your trainers and jockeys are extremely good. If they were based east, they would be as competitive if not better than a lot of our guys.

"I've got the right horse for the right time and very lucky this guy is a bit of a warrior. He never shows you that much but when he gets into the thick of the fight he just keeps giving."

WA's pinup mare Amelia's Jewel was given every conceivable chance in her search for redemption, given a perfect steer from Western Australia's own Damian Lane.

After again drawing an ugly gate (12), Lane quickly offset to poor draw when pushing forward in the early stages to take a prominent position, tracking Overpass' every stride but couldn't quite let down in her usual fashion, chasing gamely to finish just under a length away in second (0.9L).

Talented three-year-old gelding Oscar's Fortune rounded out the placings (1.1L), with William Pike again producing one of his trademark fence-hugging efforts.

Despite not being able to get her redemption, Amelia's Jewel now leaves the Simon A Miller stable with her head held high.

Yet to declare what lucky Sydney stable with pick up the Siyouni mare, owner Peter Walsh confirmed the four-year-old will head east in the spring, likely to tackle the Brisbane Winter Carnival and possibly make a pitstop in Adelaide on the way through.


Racing and Sports



Ascot

Saturday, 20th April 2024

8
15:45
(local)

THE KIA QUOKKA

Age: 2yo and up Type: OPEN
AUD $5,000,000
1200m TURF GOOD
8
15:45
(local)
AUD $5,000,000
1200m GOOD

THE KIA QUOKKA

Age: 2yo and up Type: OPEN
FP Silk Horse, Age & Sex
Sire & Dam
Jockey
Trainer
SP
WT
1st 1. OVERPASS (AUS) 5yo G
VANCOUVER (AUS) - WALKWAY (AUS)
JOSH PARR
BJORN BAKER
$6
58.5kg
S G Darby, J Georgatsoulis, P Halfhyde, T Kingston, W E Payne, Ms S G Wilson, B E Wright, Jimlee Racing (Mgr: Ms L Caff), Knuckleheads Racing (Mgr: M J Tylor), C F Bolton, Darby Racing Walkway (Mgr: S G Darby) & Cantbreakmystride (Mgr: M T Anderson)

Sales Information

2nd 8. AMELIA'S JEWEL (AUS) 4yo M
SIYOUNI (FR) - BUMBASINA (IRE)
DAMIAN LANE
SIMON A MILLER
$3
56.5kg
P V Walsh
3rd 10. OSCAR'S FORTUNE (AUS) 3yo G
RICH ENUFF (AUS) - OSCAR AWARD (AUS)
WILLIAM PIKE
D M LUCIANI
$6.5
56.5kg
Loloma Farms Pty Ltd (Mgr: Ms K J Everett)

Sales Information

4th 7. BELLA NIPOTINA (AUS) 6yo M
PRIDE OF DUBAI (AUS) - BELLA ORFANA (AUS)
CRAIG WILLIAMS
CIARON MAHER
$8.5
56.5kg

Sales Information

5th 6. SALOON BAR (AUS) 4yo G
SESSIONS (AUS) - PARIS CRACKER (AUS)
RHYS MCLEOD
D MORTON
$91
58.5kg
6th 2. KING OF SPARTA (AUS) 5yo G
I AM INVINCIBLE (AUS) - OCTAVIA (AUS)
BLAKE SHINN
PETER & PAUL SNOWDEN
$5
58.5kg

Sales Information

7th 14. PETULA (AUS) 3yo F
NICCONI (AUS) - RUN SALLY RUN (AUS)
PATRICK CARBERY
SIMON A MILLER
$101
54.5kg

Sales Information

8th 4. TRIPLE MISSILE (AUS) 6yo G
SMART MISSILE (AUS) - TRIPLE LATTE (USA)
BRAD PARNHAM
G & A WILLIAMS
$61
58.5kg
9th 5. WAITAK (NZ) 4yo G
PROISIR (AUS) - REPO BAY (NZ)
KYLE WILSON-TAYLOR
LANCE O'SULLIVAN & ANDREW SCOTT
$41
58.5kg
10th 9. RIPCORD (AUS) 3yo G
WRITTEN BY (AUS) - SINGLE IN LONDON (AUS)
CLINT JOHNSTON-PORTER
LUKE FERNIE
$21
56.5kg

Sales Information

11th 3. MALKOVICH (AUS) 6yo G
CHOISIR (AUS) - MABKHARA (AUS)
SHAUN MCGRUDDY
BJORN BAKER
$31
58.5kg

Sales Information

12th 12. ALMIGHTY CLASS (AUS) 3yo G
PLAYING GOD (AUS) - MY CLASSY LADY (AUS)
JARRAD NOSKE
MITCHELL PATEMAN
$61
56.5kg

Sales Information

13th 11. WILD BELLE (AUS) 4yo M
PRIDE OF DUBAI (AUS) - HI BELLE (AUS)
STEVEN PARNHAM
LUKE FERNIE
$61
56.5kg

Sales Information

14th 13. SUPER SMINK (AUS) 3yo F
SUPER ONE (AUS) - SMINKY SHORTS (AUS)
CHRIS PARNHAM
D MORTON
$21
54.5kg

Sales Information