Joshua Parr aboard Overpass (Image: Racing Photos)
Cootamundra connected gelding ‘Overpass’ was back at Royal Randwick this past Saturday racing in the illustrious TJ Smith Stakes. The race; named after legendary trainer Tommy J Smith, is one of the most prestigious in the sport, having been previously won by champions such as Black Caviar, Nature Strip, Chautauqua as well as plenty of other four-legged legends.
Overpass was one of the fancied runners of the race being sent out at a $7 quote which was gobbled up by punters, trimming the price to $5 come start time. Being one of the only natural leaders in the race, and aided by the inside gate, jockey Josh Parr took him straight to the top, hoping to lead post to post. Parr didn’t get it all his own way, with roughie ‘I Am Me’ pressuring throughout.
Honest as always though the big white face of Overpass found a second wind down the straight, giving a kick and shaking off all but ‘Braise’ ridden by the Cherry capitals own Tyler Schiller.
The big grey looked to have Overpass collared at the 200m but brave as ever he kicked back before eventually being rounded up at the 50m. Nonetheless it was quite the run from the golden gelding, who had likeable trainer Bjorn Baker gleaming after the run.
Despite the $3m on offer, it’s not the final step of the talented geldings’ season with the Western Australian ‘Quokka’ the aim; a race in which Overpass has had success in the past twice. In fact since the race’s inauguration in 2023 he’s the only winner and will look to retain his crown this year.
Despite not having the history of the TJ Smith, the Quokka offers a more lucrative purse of $5m.
Gerard ‘Sarge’ Piffero was pleased with the run but disappointed that his boy was once again a bridesmaid to a quality horse.
“He (Overpass) was quite impressive on the weekend, but unlucky once again, that’s racing. He was run down by a very good horse for about the fourth or fifth time. It’s frustrating, still, you can’t be too upset,” Sarge said.
“The original plan was straight up into the Quokka in Perth, but because he was going so well in his work that they decided to have a run in the TJ. The Quokka is three weeks after the TJ rather than the usual two so they decided to run him in the TJ too and unfortunately he just missed. Despite looking a spent force a few times down the straight, the six year old kept kicking, much to Sarge’s pleasure.
“He’s good, he battles away. He’s been run down by Giga Kick in the Doomben 10,000 by a nose, he got run down by Lost And Running and edged out by Nature Strip, so a few good horses have beaten him first up but he still beat a few other good horses. We were confident he was going to run well, have a good barrier, a good track, and the weather was a big reason why they ran him. If it was too wet they’d leave him, but they ran him and it was just a matter if he could hold on at the end, but unfortunately a good horse beat him,” Piffero continued.
It was a significant race for Overpass as that took him over the $10 million in prize money. Not bad for a horse that was bought for $75,000. He has well and truly paid for himself.
“He’s paying for the ones that aren’t any good,” Sarge laughed. “He’s the best horse I’ve been a part of. He’s the first metropolitan horse I’ve had. I’ve had a few around here, my old man had a few horses and I had a few with him, but then I thought I’d get something in the city and go up and watch it and Overpass was it. He was the first one I got, so I’m hooked.
“He’s very lightly raced for a six year old, having only about 30 starts. When he was three or four he ran in the big races in Sydney like the Galaxy and a few other races on a heavy track and he had about eight or nine starts that prep and when he came to the end of the prep he struggled a bit and they loved to run him fresh but I’d like to have a few more starts each prep but the trainer has the say. He only has about three or four starts each prep but a few more would be good if he’s going alright. Overpass has always been a talented horse, but he’s been a late bloomer, really hitting his stride in the last couple of years after he won the Quokka the first time.
“When they gelded him it was at the end of his three year old campaign and once they did that it changed him a fair bit and he was switched on and after that he hasn’t looked back.
“He’s run in a lot of big races against a lot of quality Group One horses all the time. To win $10 million against them is not a bad effort.
“He’s gonna start favourite for the Quokka, he’s into $2.20 now. He’d have to be favourite you would think and you would hope that after beating that quality on the weekend that he would be fairly confident in going over to Perth.
“Josh will stay on him and hopefully after he wins the Quokka he goes to Brisbane and runs in the 10,000 and gets another little bonus for everyone.”
“He’s four from four in Perth. He’s had two Winterbottoms and two Quokkas. He likes it over there. In the last Quokka when he went out into the middle of the track they said he knows where he’s going and just let him go. It is anticipated that the horse still has a few more starts left in him.
“The good thing about him is he’s been very sound. He hasn’t had any major issues. He got a bit of a virus when he came back from Perth, but injury wise he’s been a pretty sound horse but it helps that he’s been sparingly raced and hopefully there’s a bit of longevity with that.
“I can’t complain about the trainer, Bjorn’s a character and a really nice bloke. “I’ve met him a few times at the races and he’s a bit of a character, a good bloke and great for racing.
“Bjorn is firing at the moment, he’s the one that you want to be with. He won the Doncaster and is getting a few to put their head down at the right time.”
-Tully Potts
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