Brighton hero bit of all white
NEWMARKET trainer John Berry was pleasantly surprised when stable star Roy Rocket won his ninth race at Brighton on Friday.
His eight-year-old, who is as white as he is grey and has not won anywhere else, was not expected to win due to the persistent rain that had fallen. His record on soft and heavy ground is not good, though to be fair none of those races were at the Sussex track.
Roy Rocket stuck to his own script, though. Despite drifting out to 8-1, he dug deep for his rider Rob Hornby and stuck his neck out to beat the better fancied Light Of Air.
“What a star he is,” said the jockey. “They went very hard early and John just said put him to sleep for the first three-quarters of the race. He’s a very honest horse and it was my first time riding him. He is a battler, for sure.”
Berry added: “He was very brave and that’s what a real brave horse does when things aren’t in their favour.”
Yesterday Berry was reflecting on one of the most satisfying days of his training career and planning ahead.
“Picking races for Roy is fairly straightforward as I just go through Brighton’s calendar and mark off the suitable races,” he said.
“Generally I only look elsewhere when there is a gap. As he won off 67 and is likely to go up to 70 or so, there is only one more mile-and-a-half handicap there this autumn that he is eligible for. That is on September 2, so I imagine that we’ll run in that.
“The amateurs’ Derby at Epsom on Bank Holiday Monday is before then. It’s a nice race to run in, Ross Birkett rides him very well, and he handles the track. It is usually competitive, though, and the opposition has been a bit hot for him the two times we have run in it.
“But after the season he has had, anything else would be a bonus.
“Friday was the icing on the cake. We had been aiming all year to run him at the Brighton Festival, so the fact the he not only ran there but won was the latest dream come true with Roy.”