Bub’s Colours Ride Again for Memorial Day

Former jockey Bonnie Thomson enjoyed some of her best moments in racing with her old mate, the late Townsville trainer Bub Baker.

Together Bonnie and Bub were a potent force with the tough and talented sprinter One Bar None who at his peak was one of the best horses in the city.

Now as a trainer, Thomson is hoping to conjure up some of the pair’s old magic when her “lazy” galloper One Percent carries Bub’s colours in the Milton ‘Bub’ Baker Memorial Maiden Hcp (1000m) at Cluden Park on Friday.

Baker, a doyen of the Townsville training ranks for more than four decades, left an indelible mark on the city’s racing scene with good horses and a sharp wit.

He lost a long battle with illness in February and will be farewelled by family and friends at Friday’s memorial meeting.

Thomson says One Percent isn’t a sure thing but she’s putting her faith in the former Rockhampton galloper to do Bub’s colours justice.

“I’m never confident going to the races with my horses because everything needs to go right, but he’s fit and he’s got Aidan Holt in the saddle – you can’t get better than him,” Thomson said.

“The winkers came off in his first start for me to get him to settle because in his earlier runs in Rocky he could go pretty hard. But he just refused to go. They’re back on this week and his trial since was good.

“On his best form in Rocky he’d have to be a chance. I’m just really happy that he’ll carry Bub’s colours.

“I spoke to his son Michael about it and he was rapt. It would be an emotional win for sure.”

Thomson recalls how her association with Bub began not long after she arrived in Townsville in 2015 from the south-west.

She said Bub had been a huge support with her training career, and when her riding career was ended prematurely by a fall in Mackay two years ago.

“I grew up with the Bakers, and I’ve known the family pretty much all my life from back in Roma and out that way,” Thomson said.

“Bub was the only one of the family I hadn’t met until I moved up here .

“I rode for his brothers Ducky and Wayne and won races for them and rode with their sister Carmel.

“I rode for Bub for a long time and had a lot of success for him.

“One morning at the track he had Digger there, One Bar None, standing there and he said to me ‘you better come and get on this horse because you’ve got to trial him next week’.

“I thought, ‘are you talking to me?’ We never looked back. He was the last good horse he had. 

“He was a tough little bugger. We won the Lightning here with him on the Thursday and he backed up on the Saturday in the Cleveland Bay Hcp and he ran second to Executed.

“He was one of my highlight horses up here because he was such a great competitor. We tackled most of the feature races.

“He became one of my best mates Bub. I could talk to him about anything and he helped me a fair bit especially when I started training.

“He was always there to give me his wise words.”

Baker, with the support of his late wife Lorraine, prepared a number of smart gallopers over the years from his Stuart Drive stables including Royal Amura, Chief Note, Apache Pup, and One Bar None.

He was especially skilled with young horses he handpicked for bargain prices at the annual Magic Millions QTIS Yearling Sale on the Gold Coast.

Among the best of them were Nicosia and Chief Red Feather who both won the prestigious Parry Nissan Great Northern 2YO Classic.

Thomson knows One Percent has a big hill to climb to win on Friday, but she’s hoping for a little of Bub’s magic.

“Bub always liked winning maidens,” Thomson said. 

“I don’t know what it was, but he always liked winning a maiden he told me.”

The Milton “Bub’ Baker Memorial Maiden Hcp will kick off Friday’s meeting at 1.34pm.