By Craig Kerry
Tommy Berry has backed a call from a fellow group 1-winning jockey for stricter guidelines on apprentices progressing to city level but holds no ill feelings towards the young rider involved in the fall that led to his broken neck last Saturday.
Berry fractured his C4 vertebra and damaged shoulder ligaments when he and Taree apprentice Teighan Worsnop fell in the last race at Randwick.
Tommy Berry.Credit: Getty Images
Worsnop, riding in her first city meeting, fell from Shihab after it appeared to overrace and clip heels. Berry was travelling on their inside aboard Step Aside and fell through the running rail. Worsnop escaped with mild concussion symptoms.
Berry was first told he could be sidelined for four months but is now eyeing a return for the Silver Slipper meeting on February 22 after seeing specialist Dr Andrew Cree.
“He said you should be riding in a month,” Berry said on Thursday. “The shoulder ligament damage, it’s only a grade one so he said it should be the same process there.
“I’ll look to have the neck brace and sling off in the next nine-to-10 days and go from there.”
Berry has spoken to Worsnop since the fall, which he said was “just a racing incident”.
“She was quite upset,” he said.
“I received a text from her that said I’m probably the last person you want to hear from, which was difficult for me to take because I don’t want anyone to feel that way.
“I said to her that it’s something she can learn from, but I hold no bad feelings towards her at all. It’s all part of racing.
“I just didn’t want her going away feeling that I had any bad feelings towards her, or she should feel bad about a situation. I’d rather her learn from a situation than lose any confidence from it.”
After the incident, a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) from group 1-winning jockey Christian Reith, who broke his back in a fall, sparked debate.
“I feel and believe racing NSW seem to be pushing young riders through who are nowhere ready to be riding in this dangerous environment,” part of the post read.
He later clarified the post was “about the education and training system that is obviously failing these kids”.
Berry said the first post “was taken a bit out of context” by some, and he agreed changes were needed to the system.
“I think, as a whole, the way apprentices go through the ranks, where they can ride in different jurisdictions in NSW, is very different to how it’s done in other states in Australia, where I think it works better,” he said.
“Maybe there’s got to be stricter guidelines.
“Christian was airing his frustrations, but I think if you speak to any jockey in NSW, a lot agree that some apprentices get pushed to town too quickly.
“Riding in town, everything happens a lot faster, we ride a lot tighter.
“The point Christian was trying to make was right. The way it was taken, that it was aimed at the girl, it definitely wasn’t.”
