Fabulous Baker boys fail to place

IT would have had all the ingredients of a perfect story — four Bakers working together to steal the bookies’ dough.

But sadly at last night’s 6.45pm race in Leicester, George Baker just wasn’t in the mix.

It was a crushing anticlimax for three other George Bakers — the Irish horse’s owner, trainer and jockey.

The half-baked plan started when a gambler, Harry Findlay, named a horse George Baker so that he could send it to a trainer of the same name.

However, when he and his partner decided to sell on the horse last October, they could not have envisaged that trainer George Baker would buy the three-year-old gelding back and sell a half share to someone who would introduce themselves by... guess what name?

And so to last night and the first race for the partnership and yet another George Baker, this time the jockey who no doubt received plenty of grains of wisdom from George Baker trainer and George Baker owner.

The omens were good. Odds fell from as high as 20-1 to 9-2.

Respected tipping organisation Timeform have selected George Baker, suggesting that his first run after a break — and he hasn’t been to the races for nine months — could be the time to back him.

Unfortunately though the appropriately named horse did not rise to the occasion. Cruelly the fairytale win was stolen away from the Bakers by the aptly named Jimmy the Poacher, another Irish mount. He did not even place.

They did not have the recipe for success this time out. It remains to be seen if they will have their cake at some point in the future.