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Sydney Morning Herald
31-07-2025
- Sport
- Sydney Morning Herald
Berry keen to get back in premiership race after rollercoaster ride
After a rollercoaster season of rich wins and injury setbacks, Tommy Berry is driven to get back near the top of the Sydney jockeys premiership with a consistent run in 2025-26. And Berry, coming off a double last weekend at Randwick, hopes a string of wet-track chances will give him a winning start to the new campaign in town on Saturday at Rosehill. The 34-year-old had 47 NSW metropolitan winners in 2024-25 to finish eighth in the Sydney premiership won by James McDonald (83) for a seventh consecutive time and ninth victory overall. Berry had 59 wins the season before, when he made a late start because of an eight-month disqualification that halved his 2022-23 campaign. He was fourth in 2021-22 with 63 and finished in the top three the previous three seasons with 111, 76 and 77 wins. There were genuine excuses for the drop in wins last season. A fall in January at Randwick, which left Berry with a neck fracture and shoulder injury, sidelined him for five weeks. He had other stints out with a blocked nerve in his neck, a busted cheek from a fall at home and suspensions late in the season. Berry, though, is using the downturn as motivation for this season. 'It's the first time in a while I haven't been in the top three in NSW, which isn't good enough by my standards, but to run top two or three again next season is what I'll be aiming for,' he said. Despite the setbacks, Berry still ranked among the top-earning jockeys in 2024-25 after scoring a first group 1 in two and a half years when the Ciaron Maher-trained Gringotts won the George Ryder Stakes. Berry also claimed the group 1 Queensland Oaks on the Kris Lees-prepared You Wahng and the $2 million Magic Millions Classic on Bjorn Baker's O'Ole, among 18 stakes race wins.
The Age
31-07-2025
- Sport
- The Age
Berry keen to get back in premiership race after rollercoaster ride
After a rollercoaster season of rich wins and injury setbacks, Tommy Berry is driven to get back near the top of the Sydney jockeys premiership with a consistent run in 2025-26. And Berry, coming off a double last weekend at Randwick, hopes a string of wet-track chances will give him a winning start to the new campaign in town on Saturday at Rosehill. The 34-year-old had 47 NSW metropolitan winners in 2024-25 to finish eighth in the Sydney premiership won by James McDonald (83) for a seventh consecutive time and ninth victory overall. Berry had 59 wins the season before, when he made a late start because of an eight-month disqualification that halved his 2022-23 campaign. He was fourth in 2021-22 with 63 and finished in the top three the previous three seasons with 111, 76 and 77 wins. There were genuine excuses for the drop in wins last season. A fall in January at Randwick, which left Berry with a neck fracture and shoulder injury, sidelined him for five weeks. He had other stints out with a blocked nerve in his neck, a busted cheek from a fall at home and suspensions late in the season. Berry, though, is using the downturn as motivation for this season. 'It's the first time in a while I haven't been in the top three in NSW, which isn't good enough by my standards, but to run top two or three again next season is what I'll be aiming for,' he said. Despite the setbacks, Berry still ranked among the top-earning jockeys in 2024-25 after scoring a first group 1 in two and a half years when the Ciaron Maher-trained Gringotts won the George Ryder Stakes. Berry also claimed the group 1 Queensland Oaks on the Kris Lees-prepared You Wahng and the $2 million Magic Millions Classic on Bjorn Baker's O'Ole, among 18 stakes race wins.
