Berry going for second in A$ 4m Queen Elizabeth

If and when the incomparable Winx wins her 17th straight victory in today’s A$ 4 million Queen Elizabeth Stakes in Sydney the large crowd will go berserk.

On the first level of the plush Randwick grandstand Chris Waller will feel just one emotion.

Beneath that singular feeling there might be similar delight, but the overriding emotion will be relief.

Yes, training champion racehorses these days brings fame, riches and glory, but with it comes pressure. Massive pressure. If the seemingly impossible happens and Winx is beaten today it will be to Waller they will turn with barely veiled questions. How? Why? The inquest will not be pretty. Champions become public property

Waller does not, and does not need to, see Winx as a cash cow.

Yes, the trainer’s percentage this afternoon will top A$ 220,000, but long behind Waller is the memory of he and Cambridge trainer Shaune Ritchie abandoning their broken down A$ 500 Valiant on Parramatta road as the mates did their recon to look at breaking into the impossibly brutal Sydney racing scene.

It is impossible to overstate what Waller has achieved.

Sydney racing gives new meaning to the line — you are only as good as your last winner.

Gai Waterhouse had the Sydney scene virtually to herself before Waller set up. She i s so famous in worldwide horse circles she is universally known simply as Gai, just as her legendary father, the late Tommy Smith, went by TJ.

By her own glittering standards Gai has had at best an average summer on the turf, to the point it was suggested last week in the ever circling press she could be looking at retirement.

She scoffed. “TJ died with his boots on and so will I.”

If Winx is beaten Waller will look first to himself. No one you can think of is more self analytical — though he may not admit it, a large element of his success. Was what he set the champion mare a bridge too far? It wouldn’t be the first time that thought crossed his mind.

“I got a nervous t witch halfway through the Doncaster last year,” he said yesterday. “She got into trouble mid- race and I thought that coupled with a heavy track was going to bring her undone. I felt terrible.” Pressure. “But to her great credit she showed champion qualities by putting that behind her in the second half of the race and won stylishly. She’s a real machine.” It was then, Waller says, he knew he had a champion.

Others had thought it well before that. The first of Winx’s current winning sequence came in the Sunshine Coast Guineas at Caloundra in midMay 2015. The performance was staggering. She was clear last in an 18- horse field into the home straight Tommy Berry helped deliver one of the most memorable finishes at Randwick last weekend aboard Chautauqua but seven days later he will be a mere observer.

Berry, who produced a masterful ride on the grey to drive him from last to win a third consecutive TJ Smith Stakes, accepts he is only in the running for second in the feature race of The Championships’ final programme.

The 28- year- old rides No Doubt ($ 301) in the A$ 4 million Queen Elizabeth Stakes ( 2000m) and in keeping with his mount’s name, Berry is unequivocal about his and the sprint she turned on will stay forever in the memory of those who saw it.

As Waller came down from the grandstand that day his first thought was he just might be able to achieve his goal of winning a group one with Winx. It did no harm when Larry Cassidy jumped off and said: “This could be the best horse I’ve ridden.”

It wasn’t lost on Waller that Cassidy had ridden Sunline, but let’s not into ridiculous comparisons. chances of beating super mare Winx, the $ 1.08 favourite with the TAB. “No. Winx can’t be beaten. Not on Saturday.

“She’s beaten all those horses multiple times before and by big margins. Jeez she’d have to lose two legs to get beaten,” Berry said.

So barring a remarkable turn of events Berry and seven other jockeys will trail in Hugh Bowman’s wake as the world’s greatest horse on turf extends her winning streak to 17.

And far from being demoralised, Berry felt fortunate to view Winx’s power and panache from relatively

Just as the Melbourne Cup is the world’s most famous handicap, the Cox Plate is this part of the world’s weight- for- age icon. After Winx won the Theo Marks and Epsom Handicap in the spring of her 4- year- old season, Waller knew the mare deserved her place in the 2015 Cox Plate.

“I wasn’t that confident and there were those who said later she received a saloon passage, but she did break the track record.”

Waller was then totally convinced close range. “I’m just in awe of her, what she can do to a field,” he said.

“All you can do is give your horse the best possible chance to run as close as it can behind her.”

More than two years ago, Berry rode Winx to win the group two Phar Lap Stakes but she is now the exclusive mount of Bowman.

Berry’s most recent experience against Winx was on Chautauqua in last month’s George Ryder Stakes ( 1500m). The world’s best sprinter was third, almost nine lengths adrift.

Rather than focus on Winx, Berry was concerned about his rivals for the minor placings. of the absolute champion qualities he had on his hands and when Winx repeated the Cox Plate effort last October he also knew the public had caught up with his belief.

“I couldn’t believe the crowd’s reaction to that win,” he said. No real surprise. At the 450m James McDonald had Hartnell travelling so well in front he felt he was on the winner. Suddenly Winx and Hugh Bowman swept past as though Hartnell had his feet glued to the turf. She won

“Hartnell is an obvious danger,” he said. “He’s always run second to her. Exospheric is also coming back in trip. He’ll be rock- hard fit.”

Berry was also impressed by Happy Clapper’s second in the Doncaster Mile to It’s Somewhat, 12 months after he was runner- up to Winx in the same race.

No Doubt was an emergency in the Doncaster Mile won by It’s Somewhat and Berry acknowledged today’s task was a step up in class for the Anthony and Edward Cummings- trained fouryear- old.

“He’s a horse on the way up. It’s a by from here to the Post Shop.

“You’re . . . kidding,” McDonald yelled to his mate Bowman.

Waller knows that, almost impossibly, Winx has gone to an even slightly higher level since then.

Sunline, the best of her time, won nearly $ 13 million, a figure Winx will leapfrog if she wins late today. Trevor McKee said the greatest pressure in training Sunline was having to have her ready to win at group one level every time to the races. sharp rise in grade for him but Anthony has done that plenty of times before and got a result,” Berry said.

“He ran second in the Doncaster Prelude and the form out of that has been pretty strong. He ran behind It’s Somewhat two runs ago.”

At least Berry has an enduring memory from The Championships if he is an also- ran in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes. Guiding Chautauqua to his breathtaking win will take some beating. “It’s a win I’ll never forget, and a win I don’t think anyone will forget in a hurry,” he said. Chris Waller says ditto to that. Pressure. Fortunately, Shaune Ritchie, a multiple group one- winning trainer these days in Cambridge, will be in the grandstand alongside his mate this afternoon, having taken 3- year- old filly Devise to Sydney for the A$ 1m Australian Oaks, run 40 minutes before Winx walks into the barriers.

The A$ 500 Valiant will make for a nice champagne celebratory anecdote if both horses win.