Which Cup has Berkeley Square’s name on it this season? That is the question Dan now has to ask after his stable star’s second win this spring on Saturday.
Is it the $500,000 Geelong Cup in just over two weeks? Or maybe the $750,000 Moonee Valley Cup two days later under lights? Maybe even the $500,000 Bendigo Cup? Whichever way, the Ballarat trainer has a lot of thinking to do.
Having one time run as the favourite for the Victorian Derby in a steller three-year-old spring, Berkeley Square never quite reached the heights in his four-year-old season, but on the back of a win over 1700m at Flemington two weeks ago, and over 1800m at Sandown, spring riches beckon again.
“He’s got that ripping turn-of foot and we’ve seen that a few times at Flemington,” the Ballarat-based horseman told racing.com.
“In his trackwork at home, he can really rip up a couple of furlongs but he just needs that galloping room to get to the outside and be allowed to use that stride.
“And, I think we’ve removed the doubt that he’s just a wet tracker today.”
O’Sullivan’s confidence in the decision-making ability of apprentice, Ballarat’s Jaylah Kennedy was evident again.
“We didn’t think he’d be that far back but she (Kennedy) made the decision after he didn’t jump that well,” O’Sullivan said.
“Jaylah knows him well and she backed herself, and him, to have the ability to run the leaders down.”
Now, for O’Sullivan, it is a question of which Cup to aim for?
“We haven’t put him in the Caulfield Cup or Melbourne Cup nominations but those other cups have always been in my mind,” he said.
“I’ve got to make a call soon because he’ll need to have one run before then.”
Berkeley Square ridden by Jaylah Kennedy wins the Tile Importer Handicap at Sportsbet Sandown Hillside Racecourse on September 28, 2024 in Springvale, Australia. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Racing Photos)
