By Craig Kerry
After a lucky recent escape, jockey Tom Sherry is looking to again make the most of his opportunity in the $500,000 The Coast.
And he believes the in-form Depth Of Character is the right horse to give him back-to-back wins in the feature race on the annual Gosford standalone program on Saturday.
Tom Sherry wins The Coast riding Magnaspin last year, and the jockey is confident he can go back-to-back on Depth Of Character.Credit: Getty Images
Sherry won the 1600m race for three and four-year-olds last year on Magnaspin, for Victorian trainers Leon and Troy Corstens, when the meeting was transferred to Newcastle.
The city program is back at Gosford this year after renovations to the track. Since racing has returned there, two meetings have been abandoned because of horses slipping on a problem area on the home turn, but a successful race program on April 25 has paved the way for Saturday’s feature card to remain at Gosford.
Sherry scored his second-biggest prizemoney win, after the 2023 victory on Unspoken in the $2 million Five Diamonds, when Magnaspin surged late on a heavy Newcastle track last year.
“It’s obviously a standalone meeting, and it’s always good to win the features in front of a good crowd. They are always good to pick up,” Sherry said.
This year he is reuniting with the Annabel and Rob Archibald-trained three-year-old Depth Of Character, which is coming off successive wins at Eagle Farm, including the group 2 Queensland Guineas (1600m) last Saturday.
Tom Sherry will also ride Ostraka (right), pictured winning at Randwick in October, in the Takeover Target Stakes.Credit: Getty Images
Drawn well in barrier six, Depth Of Character was a $4.20 Sportsbet chance in the headline race and Sherry was hoping he could bring that form back to NSW.
“Most of his wins, bar his maiden, have been in Queensland, but it seems like he’s going really well, and it’s the right race for him,” he said.
Sherry was aboard the Deep Field gelding for his first six starts, which included a debut win at Canterbury and listed victory in the Tattersall’s Stakes at Eagle Farm third up, but others have taken the reins for his next six runs.
He was pleased to get back aboard the now in-form galloper.
“He dropped off a bit,” Sherry said. “He was good as a two-year-old, then he went really keen, but Annabel has got him going really well again.
“I feel as though I’ve been riding well, and obviously the quality of horses comes in dribs and drabs, but I’m making the most of the opportunities I’m getting. This time of year it normally picks up for me, so looking forward to Saturday.”
The Irishman, who has been in Australia for seven years, also had a genuine stakes chance with Ostraka for the Archibalds in the listed Takeover Target Stakes (1200m). The four-year-old, an $8.50 hope from gate 11, has raced in top company this preparation for one placing, in the group 3 Star Kingdom Stakes, from four starts. He led for most of the way last time out on the Hall Mark Stakes before finishing two and a half lengths away in sixth.
Sherry is hoping for a breakthrough result on Ostraka.
“He’s drawn a little bit tricky, but when he switches off, he’s got a really explosive turn of foot,” Sherry said. “I’ve ridden him a few times but haven’t quite won. I’ve placed on him three times, but he seems as though he’s going really well.”
The former champion Sydney apprentice has had wins at Newcastle and Warwick Farm since returning from a lower leg injury sustained at Kembla on April 15. Sherry had ridden two winners on the card before favourite California Sunrise was fractious in the barriers and scratched from the last race. Sherry was taken to hospital for X-rays but was back race riding just eight days later after an MRI scan cleared him of serious damage.
“It was just a blood hematoma and there was plenty of swelling,” he said. “They sent me for an MRI because there were a couple of clouds on the bones [in X-rays], but it’s all clear now.
“Things are going all right. I’ve got to just keep chipping away, try to keep busy and stay consistent.”
Sherry also rides Trafalgar Square (race one), Awesome Wonder (five) and King Of Roseau (10) on Saturday.
“Trafalgar Square was caught wide last start, so the good barrier [in three] will help it,” he said. “Hopefully it can put its best foot forward.
“Awesome Wonder has drawn a really wide gate, but the John O’Shea stable is going really well, so hopefully she can run well.
“King Of Roseau is going really well and just got beat last Saturday. I think the Gosford track will suit him a lot better than Randwick, with the shorter straight. He’s got a short, sharp turn of speed.”
