BAILIE BAKER'S BRILLIANT BIRDSVILLE ADVENTURE

By Graham Potter | Monday, September 8, 2025

The dark blue, lime green and white Star of David, lime green and white striped sleeves and red cap colours carried to Birdsville Cup glory by the Clinton Austin trained eight-year-old gelding Testator Silens represented no less than seventeen official owners which was only fitting for the feature race of the iconic, two-day outback carnival where mass, all-inclusive celebration of the event is the order of the day.

And right in the middle of it all was Baillie Baker, a 4kg claiming apprentice who rode Testator Silens a treat to claim the sixth win of her career, one which will be etched in her memory for many years to come.

Not that it was a ride without its challenges, but when Testator Silens, easy to back at $8, passed the post with over three lengths to spare back to the second placed The Driller, the result was really a case of ‘never in doubt.’

“Birdsville was a really, really good experience,” offered Baker. “Not just winning the Cup itself, but the people. Everyone was super lovely … all of the locals … and just the atmosphere of it all was quite amazing. Everybody was there to have a good time. It was really cool.

“I got the ride through Gary Peoples, one of the owners of Testator Silens. Matthew Palmer was meant to go up. Matt recommended me and Gary and Clinton (Austin) had the faith in me to put me on,’ said Baker, explaining how she came to be in Birdsville in the first place.

Austin ended up giving Baker five rides over the two days … and Kym Healy also gave Baker a vote of confidence giving the young rider a further three rides over the two days … and a second winner with Baker saluting on the Healy trained Grinzinger Bishop (a $3.60 favourite) in the race before the Birdsville Cup.

But it was a slow start.

Friday, day one of the carnival, wasn’t the best of days for Baker. She was beaten on the favourite in the first race and the day didn’t get any better after that. Those results could have knocked her confidence and you have to credit Baker for putting an unproductive day behind her so quickly and bouncing back so emphatically on Saturday. Call it character building!

The Grinzinger Bishop win was clearcut with the six-year-old winning by 4.33 lengths and, while the Cup win ended up being equally as fluent, there were moments in Testator Silens run which put Baker’s expertise and nerve to the test.

“I’ve got to focus to remember the race actually. It was all a bit of a blur,” said Baker when asked to give her view of the run.

“He jumped super …like electric …and I intended just to keep him rolling and going forward. Then he just started travelling super well for me although, because he wasn’t used to going left-handed, he made it a bit hard. He was laying out a bit, which was understandable.

“Then I asked him to start to give me a bit more … and he decided to do so.”

It all could have gone horribly wrong when Testator Silens hang out in the first half of the home straight, shifting from four horses wide on cornering all the way out to seven to eight horses wide by the time he passed the 200m mark.

How Baker handled that situation was always going to play a big part in the outcome.

“Down the straight he laid out a bit more and became unbalanced a little bit,” said Baker. “I just put my hands on and proceeded to ride him hands and heels to keep him running and as balanced as I could. I just wanted to keep him steady and relaxed and, yeah, he finished off well.”

And the return to scale was quite a moment.

“Oh, my goodness. They said you must go for a lap up the straight … and I said, ok. I came back and all of the owners were there cheering. It was so nice,” said Baker.
“Yeah, we had a good celebration that night. We went to Fred Brophy’s boxing tent. It was his last night. Then we went to the pub, and the mayor of Birdsville actually is a part-owner in the horse, so there was plenty of cheering and champagne splashing about.

‘They are an amazing bunch of owners. They helped me get to Birdsville. They organised a place for me to sleep.
“It felt like home really. I said to one of the owners, I don’t really want to leave.

“Like I said … not just the win … all of it was such a great experience.”

Baker is now a member of two fairly exclusive clubs … she is a Birdsville Cup winner and she is a jockey who came back a winner on her very first race ride.

That win came aboard the Adam Campton trained Pungo at Beaudesert on July 8.

“First ride. First win,” confirmed Baker who is apprenticed to Campton at the Gold Coast.

“Adam is an amazing person to work with. He’s super supportive. He rings me before the race … then after the races, just to check in how I am mentally. It’s really good.”
Baker took her time before committing to a life in the saddle.

Coming from a Gordonvale racing family, racing was always likely to play a part in her life.

“I was riding work for dad (trainer Glen Baker) when we came down to Beaudesert, but then I went back to Cairns and I rode work there,” said Baker, taking up the story.

“Then I lived and worked on Lizard island and Hamilton Island and worked at hotels in Cairns, but I just missed riding and so I decided to take the next step and come back to racing.”

Clearly, it was a good choice and one that remains full of promise because Baker is now very much up and running and providing a thrill to her biggest cheer-squad … her family … who she is doing proud.

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