Berry hoping for change of luck with Freedman stars after ‘Slipper curse’

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By Craig Kerry

September 25, 2025 — 4.00pm

Tommy Berry has won the Golden Slipper three times, but in the past two years the champion jockey had been left to wonder if he has been cursed in the race.

Berry got off the Michael Freedman-trained Manaal before the 2024 edition, where she got back from the outside gate and rattled home for fifth. The horse he chose to ride, Espionage, didn’t make the field.

Tommy Berry takes Manaal (second from left) to victory in the Sweet Embrace Stakes in 2024.

Keen to avoid that mistake again, Berry went with a definite starter, Peter Snowden’s Quietly Arrogant, only to watch the Freedman-trained Marhoona, a filly he had worked, sneak into the field and win.

His fortune with the pair has changed this week, however, with a first chance to ride Manaal in 18 months and a maiden opportunity with Marhoona at Rosehill.

Marhoona makes her long-awaited return in the listed Heritage Stakes (1100m) for three-year-olds, while Manaal contests the $400,000 group 2 Golden Pendant (1400m) after her return to the winner’s circle last start in the Sheraco Stakes.

Trainer Michael Freedman with jockey Tommy Berry after Manaal won the Gimcrack Stakes at Randwick in 2023.

Jason Collett rode her to the half-length victory, but Berry had “a bit of luck back my way” to get the job this week. Collett was to stick with Doncaster Mile champion Stefi Magnetica, which ultimately wasn’t nominated, in the Golden Pendant, opening the door for Berry to ride Manaal.

“I got off her on in the Slipper to ride one that didn’t make the field actually that year, so that’s why I went early this year, thinking Marhoona might not make it either,” Berry said.

“The Slipper has been a bit of a curse for me the last couple of years, but it’s been good to me in the past.

“I’ve always done a lot of work on her, and I’ve seen her beat me a lot, so it’s been hard to watch, but she’s in great form.

“She worked really good on Tuesday morning. The win was excellent last start and I always thought she’d improve again.”

Berry was excited about a first chance on Marhoona, which won the Slipper in March at just her third start and has not raced since. Freedman has held Marhoona back, scratching her from the Shorts last week, searching for the right kick-off point.

Golden Slipper winner Marhoona makes her long-awaited return to racing on Saturday.

“Along the way I could have been on her here or there, but things didn’t work out,” Berry said.

“Going into the Slipper, she looked like she wasn’t going to make the field, so I took something else.
But I’ve always done a bit of work on her here and there, so I know her pretty well.

“And obviously with Damian Lane being the one who won the Slipper on her, him not being in Sydney, it helps me a bit there, too.

“She has come back in great order, she trialled really well against Briasa a couple of weeks ago and Briasa’s come out and done really well [when second in the Shorts], so that trial form is good.”

Manaal is a $3.60 chance with Sportsbet and Marhoona a $3.30 favourite. Both have drawn well in barrier four and give Berry a great chance to claim another feature with Freedman after their recent Furious and Tea Rose stakes victories with Apocalyptic.

Adding to Berry’s card is the return of the Ciaron Maher-trained Gringotts, which was scratched from the $1 million 7 Stakes (1600m) last week due to poor blood work. The group 1 winner faces an easier race, the group 2 Shannon Stakes (1500m), on Saturday, but he has to carry 61 kilograms.

“I guess he’s up to that level now where you’ve got to be 100 per cent,” Berry said. “And he had this race where he could still be three weeks into the King Charles Stakes, so it’s still fitting in quite well with his preparation.

“He enjoys the 1500 there at Rosehill, and he’ll be very hard to beat.

“He’s not foreign to carrying big weights, and it looks like it’s perfectly set up for him.”