Story by Mathew Toogood – Racing.com
Ballarat-based trainer Dan O’Sullivan is hopeful Berkeley Square can finish spring with a Group 2 Zipping Classic win, with the gelding’s performance likely to also help determine whether an Adelaide Cup tilt is a possibility later in the season.
Berkeley Square is set for the seventh start of his current campaign in Saturday’s 2400-metre weight-for-age race, having won twice in handicaps earlier in the preparation before placings in the Coongy Cup, Bendigo Cup and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Group level.
“He’s had a fantastic preparation, a couple of wins and three Group placings,” O’Sullivan said.
“There’s been a couple of races not run to suit, tempo-wise, but he’s had a very good, consistent campaign and hopefully he can pick off a Group 2 win on Saturday.”
O’Sullivan is unsure of immediate plans for Berkeley Square after the Zipping Classic, but he believes the race shapes as a good test for the five-year-old and also a potential guide moving forward.
“It depends on how he goes,” O’Sullivan said.
“We want to see him run out a strong 2400m. Some of the owners would love to go and win the Adelaide Cup (in March) because they’re all from over there, but whether that’s going to be possible, timing-wise, it might not be able to.
“I’d like to see him be really strong through 2400 metres to justify doing that anyway.
“You could look at his form and say in the Bendigo Cup he had a soft run and finished off OK.
“In the Queen Elizabeth (over 2600m) he loomed and wasn’t quite as strong through the line, so you’ve still probably got to justify going out any further in distance on Saturday.
“I’ve just got to see how he goes on Saturday and weigh up our options.”
O’Sullivan said the Zipping Classic had been on the radar for Berkeley Square this spring once he was stretched out in distance.
“We always had the Bendigo Cup, Queen Elizabeth into the Zipping as our main goals,” he said.
“It would’ve been easy to back off and go to the 2000 metres of the Ballarat Cup a week later but historically the Zipping Classic hasn’t had big fields.
“It looks quite a strong race this year so it will be a good test for him.
“It would have been beautiful if it was at Sandown but it’s at Caulfield, so we’ve just got to deal with that.”
Berkeley Square has won at Caulfield before, but O’Sullivan noted the galloper ‘really let rip’ when racing on the big straight at Sandown when winning there earlier this campaign.
Apprentice Jaylah Kennedy has ridden Berkeley Square this preparation, but O’Sullivan said the galloper’s owners had opted to go for a senior rider for Saturday’s race, with Michael Dee booked for the ride.
The Zipping Classic has attracted a field of 15, with Berkeley Square coming up with barrier eight.
O’Sullivan also has Matriarch Rose set to run in Saturday’s G3 Summoned Stakes (1600m) and he believes the mare is going better than her form suggests.
Matriarch Rose is yet to win this spring and drops back to 1600m after being unplaced behind Alma Rise in a 2000-metre Benchmark race during the Melbourne Cup Carnival.
“She jarred up one day and had a few little issues there and then over 2000 metres at Flemington she loomed up like she was a good chance and then didn’t seem to run the trip out,” he said.
“We’ve brought her back and freshened her up to have a crack at this mares’ race.”
Berkeley Square ridden by Jaylah Kennedy wins the Ronald McDonald House Charities Trophy at Flemington Racecourse on September 14, 2024 in Flemington, Australia. (Photo by Jay Town/Racing Photos)
