Tommy Berry is the latest in a line of jockeys to benefit from the guidance of Hall of Famer John Hawkes and wants to repay the help by completing the T.J. Smith-All Aged Stakes double on Chautauqua at Randwick on Saturday.
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Berry has become the go-to Sydney rider for Team Hawkes, the training partnership of John and sons Michael and Wayne. He rides Chautauqua in the All Aged Stakes, Our Boy Malachi in the Hall Mark Stakes and Leebaz in the JRA Plate on Saturday.
But the extra bonus for Berry is the constant interaction with John Hawkes.
"I have been with some good trainers in my career but it is great to go through a races with John," Berry said. "He is just very good at reading races and I talk to him after every day I ride for them.
"You just learn so much from talking to him because he sees different things and it has made me better."
Hawkes might not have liked what he saw in the T.J. Smith when Chautauqua was last coming to the home turn, but when Berry let the the big sprinter loose, he mowed down Lord Of The Sky.
It was a win even the jockey thought was improbable.
"When I got him out and going, I thought I might have set him too big a task," Berry said. "It probably would have been for most horses.
"He has got a 300-metre sprint and he really can let go, and it is quite exciting.
"It was great to get that first group for Team Hawkes, particularly with Chautauqua because he is a horse that had group-1 potential and to get the group 1 was big for everyone."
Chautauqua has been made a $3 favourite for the All Aged Stakes by Crownbet in front of Terravista ($5), Lucky Hussler ($7) and Guineas winning three-year-olds Wandjina and Shooting To Win at $8.
"He proved he was the best sprinter in the T.J. But I know the team at Hawkeses believe the 1400m will suit him even better because they see him as a miler," Berry said. "He should be closer in the close on Saturday and I think he has the best sprint in the race."
A race later, Berry will hop on Our Boy Malachi, which looks a group-1 horse in waiting. Berry has been impressed by everything Our Boy Malachi has done.
"He is just a winner in everything he does," Berry said. "I have had quite a bit to do with him in preparation for Saturday and he wants to win if it's a gallop, a trial or a race.
"He has got a bit of improvement left in him because he is going to Brisbane, but they will still want to be good to beat him."
Meanwhile, Chris Waller will follow what has become a success path to Queensland with two-year-old Counterattack after he broke his maiden at Warwick Farm on Wednesday.
The Redoute's Choice colt is a half-brother to group 1 winners Shellscrape and Red Tracer and showed the quality he possesses by lumping 60 kilograms to victory.
Waller has made a habit of taking his late two-year-olds to Brisbane winning the J.J. Atkins with Pressday and being runner-up with Zoustar and Brazen Beau, which both went on to become group 1 winners at three and sold as stallions.
"He'll go to Brisbane and get some confidence up there and hopefully will finish his two-year-old season with a bit of black type next to his name," Waller said. "These late types of two-year-olds can certainly make up for lost time."
