Bjorn Baker‘s dual defending champion Overpass will jump from barrier 10 of 13 as the favourite to remain the sole winner of Saturday’s The Quokka 2025 race in WA.

The official final field is locked in for the third edition of the lucrative $5 million The Quokka (1200m) with the popular slot race stealing the show at Ascot this weekend.

Overpass has won the opening two editions of the event and pays $2.20 in the latest The Quokka betting markets at Ladbrokes.com.au to make it a hat-trick.

The now six-year-old son of Vancouver won in 2023 from barrier eight and again in 2024 from gate six.

Joshua Parr continues associations aboard the $10.3 million earner who jumps from wider out this year.

The horse, also a two-time Group 1 Winterbottom Stakes winner at the track and trip, will run second-up off a nice resuming run at Randwick when runner-up to Briasa in Sydney’s Group 1 TJ Smith Stakes (1200m) on April 5.

Briasa went on to frank the TJ form with a good fourth in last Saturday’s Group 1 All Aged Stakes (1400m), which bodes well for the consistent Overpass heading west this weekend.

The danger occupying the second line of The Quokka betting at $6 is another in-form sprinter out of the TJ Smith Stakes, Headwall, who is drawn gate eight with the flying Zac Lloyd to ride.

Matthew Smith‘s Dream Ahead five-year-old has been a star for the stable this season with impressive Group 1 performances in the Oakleigh Plate (4th), Newmarket Handicap (2nd), and the TJ Smith Stakes (3rd).

He has been consistently underrated by the bookies and punters throughout his preparation but is being kept safer in the markets now tipped the horse most likely to end Overpass’s reign.

Following closely at current The Quokka odds of $7 is the best fancied of the local Perth horses, Western Empire, in barrier six for Grant & Alana Williams.

The evergreen seven-year-old has the ‘Wizard of the West’, William Pike, aboard from last year’s winning gate as he resumes in the race first-up.

Western Empire, who has a terrific Ascot record (15:7-3-3), runs for the first time since claiming the $1.5 million Group 3 The Gold Rush (1400m) here in mid-December and has been brought on fitness wise with two recent Belmont trials.

In a tight top-half of the markets Front Page completes the single-figure The Quokka contenders at $8 in barrier 11 with Tyler Schiller to ride the eight-year-old son of Magnus.

Matthew Dale‘s dual The Kosciuszko champ has run second in his three latest starts, most recently when resuming in Rosehill’s Group 1 The Galaxy (1100m) back on March 22.

Of the double-figure hopefuls chasing an upset those tipped most likely to score a blowout The Quokka win include progressive four-year-old Ascot specialist Jokers Grin ($12), Simon Miller’s ultra-consistent Playing God three-year-old West Star ($13), and last start Group 3 Roma Cup winning mare The Boss Lady ($17).

The 2025 The Kia Quokka is set to run as Ascot Race 8 at 3:45pm (AWST) / 5:45pm (AEST).

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