TOMMY BERRY IS QUICK OFF THE MARK AS SYDNEY RACING SPRINGS BACK INTO ACTION AT RANDWICK

By Graham Potter | Thursday, March 25, 2021

Tommy Berry won the opening two races at Randwick on the Kensington track as racing resumed in Sydney following the weather-enforced postponement of Golden Slipper Day last Saturday. That momentarily narrowed the gap between James McDonald and Berry in the Sydney Jockey's Premiership, but McDonald cancelled that out by bringing home two winners of his own later on the card

The Chris Waller trained Kalino scored an impressive debut win as racing returned to Sydney on a Heavy 8 Kensington track.

It was more about the way that the son of Pierro stuck to his task than any margin of victory as Kalino had to chase in the home straight and had to remain committed all the way to the line in what turned out to be a very pressurised finish which saw less than a length cover the first five horses across the line.

“He did a good job to win today. He did everything right,” said Chris Waller.

“Tommy (Berry) didn’t panic from the draw. There was a bit of speed and he was able to take a sit. It was a tough run up the straight and it was good to see him get the upper hand late.

“I think every Sydney two-year-old race is very strong, so to win a midweek two-year-old race is suggesting he is at least a Saturday class horse.

“We have taken out time with him. He has always had ability, for sure. We have always had to keep on top of his manners and the staff has done a great job with that.

"He paraded perfectly and raced accordingly.”

"I thought he was very good today,” said Tommy Berry. “I was very taken by his trial … but in both of his trials he has wanted to get the job done very quickly.

“I mentioned to Chris a cross-over nose-band might suit a horse like him. Chris put it on the next day and I was really happy with the way he switched off today.

“He got a bit lost in the centre of the track. It is a big effort for a horse having his first start to race that far off the rail. He was always going to get a bit lost, but he was strong late.

“He has got a bright future.”
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Tommy Berry completed an early double when he guided the I Am Invincible filly Ashema to victory in the second race on the Kensington track.

This result gave Berry victories in both the two-year-old colts and geldings event (which he won on Kalino) and the two-year-old fillies contest in which Ashema held off a wall of horses late to prevail by 0.20 lengths after surging to the lead early in the straight.

Trainer Annabel Neasham admitted to having a pre-race concern about the track.

“She is a lovely filly. Probably my only concern today was whether she would handle the track, which she has,” said Neasham.

“I thought he went for home quite early. The straight looked like it was taking a long time and I was wishing for the post to come, but she got there. She is a pretty smart filly.

“She looked like she relaxed a bit better today. It will be interesting what tommy’s thoughts are about her going through that ground. The nice thing is that, if she can handle it, she can be versatile going forward.

“The obvious race I suppose for these type of fillies would be the Percy Sykes, but whether she is quite ready for the 1200m yet, I don’t know. It would be great to try and get a bit of Black Type in her,” concluded Neasham.

“When they have been running at the top level for a while and being beaten a few times they can lose a bit of confidence,” said Tommy Berry. (Ashema had finished behind the likes of Stay Inside and Profiteer in her previous two starts),

“They gave her just a little bit of a break and a freshen up and she had one trial. She can get upset and not want to do things so we decided to ride her quiet. We rode her quiet in the trial and she hit the line quite well and that was the key to her again today.

“I probably rode the track a bit too much rather than the horse. At Kensington, if you can get a break on them it is pretty hard to catch you. But, in saying that she has got a very short turn of foot, so I should have worried about her more instead of riding the track and then she probably would have won a little bit easier.

“I’m glad we got the job done.”