Brilliant Berry ride gets Gringotts home in The Big Dance

Posted by RS NewsWire at 4:25pm on November 5th

A confident ride by Tommy Berry has helped pull off a long-range plan with promising miler Gringotts, who has overcome an outside draw to post a resounding win in the $3 million Big Dance at Randwick.

The five-year-old qualified for the Melbourne Cup Day feature by taking out the Tamworth Cup in April and trainer Ciaron Maher has been single-minded in his goal to have Gringotts peaking for Tuesday’s race.

A horror draw in barrier 23 of 24 put a spanner in the works, but Berry was able to utilise the horse’s fitness by bouncing him out and positioning him one off the fence, banking on Gringott’s class to do the rest.

“He was timed to perfection this horse,” Berry said.

“He was a bit fresh with me last start and I said, ‘can we put a little bit more work into him’ and they got him here spot-on today.

“When he jumped so well, I just took luck out of the equation. I knew I was on the best horse in the race and rode him like that and he got the job done.”

Gringotts ($5) powered to the front at the top of the straight and held off stablemate Vivy Air ($26) by three-quarters of a length with Suparazi ($14) the same margin away third.

Berry admitted he was nervous hitting the lead so early and feared his sequence of second placings in major races was set to continue.

“I hate being in front that far out, I was just trying to get him home,” he said.

“We spoke about how many seconds I have had in big races over the last twelve months, so I just held my nerve and got the job done

“He is going to be better again next preparation.”

Gringotts is set to chase more big prizemoney races in the coming months with Maher’s Sydney foreman Johann Gerard-Dubord confirming both The Gong (1600m) at Kembla Grange and The Ingham (1600m) at Randwick in December are on the radar.

Longer-term, the Doncaster Mile could also loom as an autumn carnival goal.

But ticking off Gringott’s Big Dance (1600m) goal on Tuesday was a fitting reward and continued Maher’s fruitful spring, which has also included winning the Everest and Russell Balding Stakes with Bella Nipotina and the Caulfield Cup with Duke De Sessa.

Gerard-Dubord echoed Berry’s sentiments that Gringott’s class and fitness got him home.

“We had a bit of work to do early, but the horse was peaking, he was fit,” Gerard-Dubord said.

“We thought he was the best horse in the race and Tommy rode him accordingly.”

More Racing News

Dan Morton keeps faith with 2024 Railway Stakes mare

Trainer Dan Morton has shrugged aside Super Smink’s horror barrier draw and still thinks she can win the Group 1 Swan Draught-Railway Stakes (1600m) at Ascot on Saturday. A layer of complexity was added to Super Smink’s Railway Stakes bid after she was handed barrier 18, but Dan Morton is keeping the...

Yesterday

Timing right for Port Lockroy in G1 Railway Stakes bid

He’s one of five interstate raiders and the outsider of the quintet, but co-trainer, Rob Archibald believes there is a sense of timing about Port Lockroy in Saturday’s Group 1 Railway Stakes (1600m) at Ascot. Rob Archibald, who shares training duties with Annabel Neasham, says Port Lockroy put himself into Railway Stakes...

Yesterday

Royal task for Gilded Water at local debut

A benchmark race on The Gong undercard will add some Royal flavour to the stand-alone Kembla Grange meeting when a horse owned by His Majesty King Charles III makes his local debut. Four-year-old Gilded Water has been sent to Australia to continue his racing career, having started just four times in the...

Yesterday

Improving trio to fly flag for Godolphin at Kembla Grange

Godolphin doesn’t have a representative in The Gong, but James Cummings is content to rely on a trio of up-and-coming sprinters to carry the stable’s hopes at the stand-alone Kembla Grange meeting. Fleetwood will headline the leading yard’s squad when he resumes in the Group 3 The Warra (1000m), while Pisanello and Restonica contest benchmark...

Yesterday

Jason Collett hoping to find Express lane in The Gong

Jason Collett is resigned to the fact that he will be more reliant on luck than good management as he tries to coax another win out of Territory Express in the $1 million The Gong at Kembla Grange. The Provincial-Midway Championships Final victor in the autumn, Territory Express has a get-back racing pattern...

Yesterday

Mark Walker aims for ‘new’ hometown Cranbourne Cup

Trainer Mark Walker has a good record when in form New Zealand gallopers land in Australia. Walker’s latest ‘import’ is It’s A Wild Night who will have his first Australian outing in the Listed Cranbourne Cup (1600m) on Saturday. It’s A Wild Night arrived at Walker’s Cranbourne base just over a week ago...

Yesterday

Trainer Gavin Bedggood chasing Fortune in The Meteorite

Gavin Bedggood hopes the decision to take Oscar’s Fortune to Cranbourne for a midweek gallop will pay off handsomely on Saturday. Oscar’s Fortune runs in the $1 million The Meteorite (1200m), a new ‘slot race’ that Southside Racing, a merged entity of the Cranbourne and Pakenham Clubs, runs for the first time. The former...

Yesterday

Railway Stakes 2024 timing perfect for Baker’s Bel

In-form mare Belclare will need to overcome a wide alley to land her first Australian Group One win in the Railway Stakes at Ascot, and connections believe Nash Rawiller is the perfect man for the job. A two-time victor at the highest level in New Zealand, Belclare joined the Sydney stable of Bjorn...

Yesterday

John Stewart eyes Melbourne with 2024 Japan Cup fancy

Goliath faces one of the toughest tasks in racing this weekend, beating the Japanese at home in their biggest race, but John Stewart is already planning his next moves with his star recruit and Australia is on the itinerary. The ambitious American has quickly become a powerful investor in Australian racing and...

Yesterday

Hedged poised to give The Warra rivals a trim-up

The Magic Millions carnival is the campaign focal point for promising sprinter Hedged, but trainers Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr are hoping he can knock off a feature race along the way. The gelding will resume in the Group 3 The Warra (1000m) at Kembla Grange on Saturday, his first start...

Yesterday