Caulfield Cup more likely than The Everest this year for Berry

Top Sydney jockey Tommy Berry has put his hand up to travel south on The Everest day rather than remain in Sydney for Australia’s richest race day of the year.

Tommy Berry is giving serious consideration to being in melbourne on Everest day in October. Photo: Mark Evans/Getty Images.

Top Sydney jockey Tommy Berry has put his hand up to travel south on The Everest day rather than remain in Sydney for Australia’s richest race day of the year.

The October 15 race date clashes with the time-honoured Caulfield Cup, a race Berry like most jockeys across the country, have a real desire to win.

Last Saturday he steered the Annabel Neasham-trained Numerian to an impressive second in the Group 2 Chelmsford Stakes (1600m) and the imported winner of this year’s Q22 is regarded as a genuine Caulfield Cup contender.

Berry hasn’t yet committed to Numerian for the Caulfield Cup but TAB.com.au regard the son of Holy Roman Emperor as an $18 chance for the famed handicap.

Numerian wins the Q22 with Tommy Berry in the saddle in June. Photo: Grant Peters/Trackside Photography.

“I haven’t got an Everest ride yet so I’m open to going to Melbourne on Caulfield Cup Day,” he said.

“I’m not going to hang around in Sydney just because it’s Everest day.

“If I can get a good Caulfield Cup ride, I’ll be on the plane.

“I can assure Chris Waller and Annabel Neasham know I’ll be more than happy to go to Melbourne.”

The popular rider is a 35-time Group 1 winner but only one of those victories have come in Melbourne, the 2015 Manikato Stakes aboard superstar sprinter Chautauqua.

The spring of 2015 also resulted in the jockey’s biggest near miss when second in the Caulfield Cup aboard the Ed Dunlop-trained Trip To Paris, which was beaten a half-length by Mongolian Khan.

#ThrowbackThursday
From the vault.🏦
Mongolian Khan winning the 2015 Caulfield Cup @MelbRacingClub for trainers Murray Baker and @ForsmanAndrew
They have The Chosen One running in this year's edition. pic.twitter.com/Z68OuvHP3J

— Mark Nowell Racing (@MarkANowell) October 16, 2019

Seventeen days later Trip To Paris also gave Berry his best result in a Melbourne Cup when fourth to Prince Of Penzance.

“The Caulfield and Melbourne Cups, as well as the Cox Plate, are still races I really want to win,” he said.

“They are the races, like the Golden Slipper, the Doncaster, that growing up as a kid you want to win.

“You become so invested in those races because they are the lifelong ambition races.

“I’d be lying if I didn’t say the prizemoney for a race like The Everest isn’t important, of course it is, we all love the money but sometimes some things are just as, if not more important.

“I think back to when I was growing up with Nathan, we wanted to win the Melbourne Cup.

“I can honestly say I’d prefer to win a Melbourne Cup more than an Everest.

“That’s the race I grew up winning in the backyard and we all know how important our childhood dreams are.”

Tommy Berry with Annabel Neasham after Numerian’s win in the Q22. Photo: Grant Peters/Trackside Photography.

Berry also suggested comparing The Everest and the Melbourne Cup is like the discussion that involves the sporting world’s latest controversy.

“When you meet someone for the first time and they find out you’re a jockey, the question they ask is have you won a Melbourne Cup? They don’t ask if you’ve won an Everest,” he said.

“The Everest will continue to grow but it will never match the Melbourne Cup for national importance.

“It’s a bit like the new Liv golf tour.

“They’ve got all the money but they’ll never have the US Masters or a British Open at St Andrews.”

Originally published as Caulfield Cup more likely than The Everest this year for Berry