By Craig Kerry
Tommy Berry understands why some trainers and owners might be wary about putting him on for races just five weeks after he fractured his neck in a fall.
The champion jockey, though, is 100 per cent sure he will be right, and he’s hoping one of his recent favourites, Gringotts, can help him prove it on Saturday at Randwick.
Tommy Berry riding Gringotts to victory in the $1 million The Gong at Kembla Grange on November 23.Credit: Getty Images
Berry fell from Step Aside in the last race at Randwick on January 25, fracturing his C4 vertebra and damaging ligaments in his left shoulder.
He gained a medical clearance last Friday, then rode trackwork over the weekend and in trials on Monday. He admits he was “hoping for the best but expecting the worst with the clearance”, but is happy with how he came through his early tests.
“It’s a good feeling because you are always that little bit nervous when you are coming back from injury and you put it under that sort of pressure, but I come out of it feeling great,” Berry said of the trials.
“It’s a little bit tight in my entrapments but, gladly, it’s not too sore in the neck or the shoulder where my injuries were.
“The shoulder was a lot harder to get over. Ligaments are always a bit tricky, but the neck was a stable fracture so it was good after a couple of weeks, even though it was sore and tight in places.
“Whatever the doctors suggested I do, I did double with rehab and icing. I wanted to be back as quick as I could and the doctors were surprised with the progress I made.”
Berry returns with rides at Canterbury on Friday night, then has as many as six on Saturday when the first group 1s of the Sydney autumn will be run. And he plans to show he’s ready to perform again at the top level.
Berry has $51 Sportsbet chance Golden Path (Verry Elleegant Stakes) and $20 hope Lazzura (Surround Stakes), the Michael Freedman-trained Marhoona ($16) and possibly Valedictorian ($23) in the group 2 two-year-old features, and Gringotts ($6.50) in the group 3 Liverpool City Cup.
“I’ve been out, but I’ve still got a few nice rides to look forward to over the next few weeks,” Berry said.
“Your momentum is broken a bit, so the week-to-week rides will take a while to build up and, obviously, there are going to be trainers and owners who want to see me ride first.
“Coming back so quick from those injuries, there’s always people who are a bit sceptical about how you are going to come back, which is completely understandable. I think providing I get through the first couple of weeks fine, which I’m 100 per cent sure I will, things will start to roll along.
“I’ve probably come back at a good time, where you are still a few weeks out from the Golden Slipper, and there’s the Championships after that.”
Gringotts, which Berry took to victory in the Big Dance and The Gong in the spring, looks his best hope on Saturday. The Ciaron Maher-trained gelding is set to resume, off one winning Scone trial, with the top weight of 61 kilograms but with the benefit of gate two.
“He’s come back well and, obviously, he had a good prep last prep,” Berry said.
“He had a few tough runs and did them well. He didn’t have a long time off so he’ll probably have a bit of residual fitness there. He’s going to have to lump a bit of weight, but I think he’s the class horse to do so.”
Marhoona was $21 for the Sweet Embrace Stakes after drawing barrier two. She won two trials, then on debut at Canterbury on February 7. Berry worked Golden Slipper hope Pallaton alongside Marhoona on Tuesday.
“Jason Collett rode her [Marhoona], and she matched motors with Pallaton, which was very good to see,” he said.
“Jason said that was as good a work as you would hope for. And she should take good improvement from the first-up win, where she chased the speed, which was quite solid, and put them away. She will be up against some nice fillies, but I think she will hold her own.”
He could also be aboard Valedictorian in the Skyline Stakes, although the colt was also a chance to race at Canterbury.
As for Chris Waller-trained Lazzura, Berry believes she can finish in the top three after an eye-catching run when fourth last start in the Light Fingers Stakes.
