Successful Sydney-based thoroughbred trainer and Toyota Material Handling Australia (TMHA) ambassador Bjorn Baker has leveraged the excellent durability, safety and performance of TMHA products to help improve the efficiency and productivity of his business.
As the trainer of Bjorn Baker Racing at Warwick Farm in Sydney’s west, Mr Baker oversees two stables consisting of 117 boxes, with a total of around 250 horses under the stewardship of the business.
With 117 boxes to maintain, Mr Baker’s team has leant on Toyota’s material handling equipment to make stable maintenance easier, safer and more time effective.
Bjorn Baker Racing uses a Toyota Huski 4SDK4 skid steer loader and Toyota 8-Series forklift to help maintain the workplace, which Mr Baker said has been a huge help to business.
“Each box has one horse, and the skid steer is part of putting sawdust in each box which is essentially the horse’s bedding. The skid steer definitely reduces labour with that immensely,” Mr Baker said.
“Toyota Material Handling have done the specifics related to the bucket – they’ve got the one that’s suited to sawdust and the weight, and likewise with the tyres.
“So that works very well and we’re able to either fill up directly into the box or fill up bins, and then the bins can go direct into the stables.”
He added that the Huski skid steer was one of the most effective ways to enhance the efficiency of the workplace, while also offering improved safety outcomes for his employees.
“It’s helped with labour a lot, and in a horse training environment it’s very labour-intensive,” he said. “So, a lot of industries now are becoming automated and reducing some of the labour required, but unfortunately with horse racing, our biggest cost by far is labour and there’s not many shortcuts we can take.
“I guess this is one thing that with the way I run my business has definitely helped with efficiencies and reducing labour costs. Along with that’s it’s also much safer in terms of work cover and taking weight off human shoulders.”
Along with the skid steer loader, Mr Baker also owns a Toyota 8-Series 1.8-tonne diesel forklift, which has proven to be something of a Swiss Army Knife for the company thanks to its wide range of uses.
While primarily used to move feed and hay, the forklift proved immensely useful for Bjorn Baker Racing, particularly with the construction of a new stable on the premises.
“It’s actually got a remarkable amount of uses,” Mr Baker said. “I’ve got another stable which I’ve built in the last year, redeveloped and rebuilt which was a big cost.
“The forklift was unbelievably handy in terms of helping with the building job and to move a lot of products. It’s got an amazing amount of uses that I never would have thought prior to actually being involved in that building process and having that forklift there.”
His positive experiences with TMHA products have caused Mr Baker to consider adding more in the future to further reduce the manual labour around the stables, including a Toyota battery electric forklift and a sweeper.
He added that the savings time and labour provided by his TMHA equipment has allowed Bjorn Baker Racing to focus more on making sure the stable’s horses are cherry-ripe for each race.
“At the end of the day we’re very much results-driven in terms of what we do on the racetrack,” Mr Baker said. “Having good systems in place and having some of these efficiencies help us manage the labour demands and concentrate a little bit more on the horses and getting the maximum performance from them.”
And the proof is in the pudding for Bjorn Baker Racing, who in the previous 2024-25 racing season had a breakout year with the second-best strike rate of any major trainer in the country, securing 157 race wins from 757 starts.
With Melbourne’s Spring racing carnival around the corner, it is imperative that as much time as possible is spent on preparing the horses for an exciting season.
Bjorn Baker Racing’s forklift operators have found the forklift and skid steer loader to be easy to use, with reliable operation and smooth driveability.
“They’re pretty good to drive, in particular the skid steer,” Mr Baker said. “We never hear a bad word, so it’s all going very smoothly. When you’ve got horses and staff, all you want is for things to continue to go smoothly.”
Overall, Mr Baker is a highly satisfied Toyota owner thanks to the positive impact the machines have had on his business.
“I couldn’t be happier,” he said. “It’s helped my business, it’s made my business more efficient and from a safety point of view, a work cover point of view, and being able to concentrate on the horse’s point of view, it’s definitely had a positive impact.”
