Berry looks to make day two medal charge with group 1 chances

Tommy Berry has confidence in Sydney Cup hope Soul Of Spain and likes the form and fitness of Australian Oaks chance Profoundly as he looks to make a day two charge for the medal named in honour of his twin brother, Nathan.

Berry picked up one point in the medal count on day one of The Championships at Randwick last week thanks to a third with Storm Leopard in the Australian Derby.

The Nathan Berry Medal is awarded to the jockey with the most points – on a three, two, one basis – in selected races during the two-day Championships each year. The four group 1s and the Country Championship final were counted on day one. On the second day, the four group 1s, the Provincial-Midway final and the group 2 Percy Skyes Stakes and Arrowfield Sprint are included.

James McDonald has won the medal five times, including the past three and the inaugural award, which he shared with Tommy in 2014, the year Nathan died at age 23.

McDonald leads on six points after a group 1 double last week and will prove tough to catch on Saturday.

“I’d obviously love to win it myself, but it’s a medal I know every jockey wants to win ... every jockey who had something to do with Nathan, especially Zac Lloyd, who was part of his family as well and knew him quite well when he was younger,” Tommy said.

“It’s just as special for them to have his medal in their houses as it is mine. I was lucky enough to win the first time with James, which was nice.

“If I could win it every year, it would be great, but it’s still nice knowing it’s going to be in peoples’ homes that loved him as well and loved riding with him.”

While the medal looks out of reach this year, given McDonald’s strong book of rides, Berry has group 1 hopes on the card.

Berry took the Michael Freedman-trained Profoundly to victory last week in the group 3 Adrian Knox Stakes (2000m) and she is $3.40 with the TAB to back up and win the $1 million Oaks (2400m) from gate 10. The impressive finish to easily win the Adrian Knox came after a tough effort to finish third in the Kembla Grange Classic (1600m) after being wide without cover.

“That last 50 metres at Kembla really showed she was going to eat up the 2000m,” he said.

“It was a good win last week because I’ve got an opinion of the second horse, Soverato, as well, and she handled her pretty comfortably.

“Going into the weekend, there’s two different types of form: the Vinery form, which was very slowly run, and they finished in a bunch; [and] her win, it was a tough-run 2000m and she was strong at the end of it. So you can take what you want out of both of them, but we know we’ve got a nice filly.

“I saw her on Tuesday morning and I said to Michael, ‘Is that Profoundly?’ I knew what she looks like, but I expected her to tuck up a bit more than she did. She was in really good order, so the run last week didn’t seem to take much out of her. She’s a very relaxed filly, so that probably helps her.”

The Chris Waller-trained Soul Of Spain ($8.50) gives Berry another hope in the $2 million Sydney Cup (3200m). Berry has ridden the five-year-old in his past three starts as he has built well in distance. He was a length away from winner Vauban two starts back in the Sky High Stakes (2000m).

“He’ll appreciate getting back to handicap conditions where he doesn’t carry as much weight,” Berry said.

“At weight for age, he’s had to carry just as much as some of the good horses in his recent starts, but still been very competitive.

“The Sydney Cup’s been his main aim his whole way through, and I love when Chris sets a horse for a race. He’s a stayer with a turn of foot.

“The gate [11] is a little bit tricky and there’s a fair bit of speed in it on paper, so we’ll probably have to ride him that bit quieter. But at the 3200m, there’s going to be a few putting the white flag up when he’s getting into his work, so pretty confident with him.”

He is with Waller again in the group 1 Queen Of The Turf, where he rides Leica Lucy ($15).

“I like she’s coming back from 2000m,” he said. “I heard Chris say that with Pride Of Jenni in the race, she’s going to make it a strong-run mile, so you need a horse that’s rock-hard fit. She’s got a very good foundation for a race like that.”