While the cat’s away, the mice will play.
That will be Tommy Berry’s motto when he heads to Rosehill on Saturday determined to capitalise on the absence of four of his fiercest rivals.
With James Mcdonald, Hugh Bowman, Kerrin Mcevoy and Nash Rawiller all riding in Melbourne, Berry is keen to rack up a feature race win or two and continue building his momentum after a rollercoaster start to the season.
Berry has celebrated wins in The Kosciuszko aboard Art Cadeau and Hilal in the Bondi Stakes, while also enduring the heartbreak of Masked Crusader’s Everest near-miss and a lengthy period sidelined by a careless riding suspension.
“I started off well winning the Winx Stakes on Mo’unga and then I incurred that month suspension for the Brenton Avdulla fall which halted things a little bit,” Berry said.
“But the break was probably what I needed. I worked really hard to try to beat James (McDonald) in the premiership last year and wasn’t able to do it, and then COVID hit so we couldn’t go away, it was just onto the next season.
“So it was a good break for my body and mind and I’ve come back riding in good form. I won the Kosciuszko and the Bondi and had that near-miss in The Everest. I’ve just about got over that.”
Unsurprisingly, Berry is in demand at Rosehill and has a full book of 10 rides, four of them for Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup-winning trainer Chris Waller.
He regards his Hot Danish Stakes mount Nudge as the pick of them, despite the fact she is coming off an average performance in The Invitation when she beat just one rival home.
“If you take away her last run, her form is impeccable for her last two preparations,” Berry said.
“I’m pretty sure she likes wet ground and for Chris to be running her after a disappointing run is a good sign.
“Chris is a bit like John Hawkes. When a horse of theirs is disappointing you expect them to go to the paddock and if they’re not sent to the paddock, there is a reason, or they’ve done really well, so I’m pretty confident.”
Berry is also looking forward to reuniting with the Waller-trained Seleque, who resumes in Saturday’s Petaluma Handicap (1100m) after being scratched from Rosehill last week.
Horse and jockey combined for a midweek win at Warwick Farm last preparation and Berry partnered her in a recent trial.
“She’s come back in great order. She had a good blow after her trial, so I think that’s why they scratched her last week and waited an extra week to run her,” Berry said.
“Now is her chance to show she can take that next step and put a couple of Saturdays together.”
