Racing: Madison County has Berry good chance

Tommy Berry riding Madison County. Photo / Bradley Photography

Popular Australian jockey Tommy Berry will have plenty of New Zealand race fans cheering him on today when the first day of The Championships gets under way at Royal Randwick.

Berry will continue his association with the Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman-trained Madison County who looks to have timed his assault on the feature three-year-old event, the Gr.1 Australian Derby (2400m), to a nicety.

Berry was taken by the Pins gelding's first-up effort for fourth behind The Autumn Sun in the Gr.1 Randwick Guineas (1600m) and places the blame on pilot error for his defeat in last weekend's Gr.2 Tulloch Stakes (2000m), where he finished runner-up.

"It was a terrific run first-up as he had missed some work due to an aborted sale to Hong Kong, and the track that day was quite testing," Berry said.

"He ran some lovely closing sectionals, even slightly faster than The Autumn Sun, so I was delighted as it was my first ride on him and it was great to get a feel for what he is capable of.

"I thought he should have won last time and blame myself for getting him beaten as I just chose the wrong part of the track to make a challenge in.

"It was very cut up and if I had been a little more patient and gone to the inside, I think he would have won the race."

While the rain that has hit Sydney of late shows little sign of abating, Berry is confident his charge will handle a rain-affected Randwick surface after a sparkling track gallop on a soft track at Warwick Farm earlier this week. "He worked on a soft track at Warwick Farm on Tuesday and it was just the sort of gallop you want to see heading into a Group One race," Berry said.

Berry is also relying on the well-known Baker-Forsman polish in the big races to put a touch more luck on his side. "I'm really grateful to be riding for Murray and Andrew and for his owners, the China Horse Club," he said.

- NZ Racing Desk