DURING a racing career that spanned more than four decades, Jack Berry became known as the ‘King of the two-year-olds’. This afternoon, the doyen of Yorkshire racing helped crown a new queen.
Prior to yesterday’s action at Catterick, Stillington-based Ruth Carr had never trained a two-year-old winner. Not anymore. With Berry having taken a share in juvenile sprinter Just For The Craic, Carr was persuaded to set her sights on the two-year-old division.
Just for the craic? You don’t do things by half when you’ve saddled more than 1,500 winners. Berry insists he only has an interest in a handful of horses to “keep his eye in”, but those eyes were twinkling as he surveyed the winners’ enclosure after the Racinguk.com Claiming Stakes.
Just For The Craic (9-2) had just swept home to frustrate short-priced favourite Tie Em Up Tel, and Berry, resplendent in his trademark red shirt, was the centre of attention once again.
Long retired, but forever cherished thanks to his involvement with the Injured Jockeys’ Fund that spans more than half-a-century and has helped build two remarkable treatment centres for those damaged in pursuit of equine glory, Berry was momentarily transported back to the days when racing success was a daily occurrence.
This time, though, his thoughts were for Carr, and more especially for her late grandfather, David Chapman, who was his right-hand man in many a racing adventure.
“I’m chuffed to bits, but the best thing about it is that it’s Ruth’s first two-year-old winner,” said Berry, now 77, but still as fit as a juvenile sprinter himself. “She hadn’t been able to do that until now, so I’m really proud to have been able to play a small part in that.
“I was great friends with her grandad, so hopefully he’s up there looking down on us with a smile on his face. He’d have been chuffed, and we had some great times together so that was for him.
“I’ve got a share in a few horses, and it’s nice to be able to stay involved. It’s even better when they come through like that at the end too!”
Berry and Carr were far from the only Yorkshire victors on what proved a successful day for local participants.
It is almost 900km from Paris to Catterick, but in horse-racing terms, the two venues might as well be light years apart. A winner is still a winner though, so while Mark Johnston’s priority might be his stable star Permian’s run in Friday night’s Group One Juddmonte Grand Prix de Paris at Saint-Cloud, the master of Middleham wasn’t about to pass up the chance of a couple of winners rather closer to home.
The St Teresa’s Hospice Fillies’ Nursery Stakes might be worth around €497,000 less than Friday’s Parisian highlight, but when your stable motto is “Always Trying”, you have to be as good as your word.
So when Faithful Promise (9-1) triumphed in a thrilling three-way finish, withstanding the late surge of both Dyson Girl and Reflect Alexander, the celebrations were just as heartfelt as they will be on Friday if Permian follows up his Dante and Royal Ascot successes with a French flourish.
Those celebrations were repeated a couple of hours later, when Addicted To You (11-10) took advantage of an attractive handicap mark to cruise to victory over two miles in the Turmeric Handicap Stakes.
A good second to the Michael Dods-trained Davy’s Dilemma at Hamilton last week, Addicted To You was quickly turned out again and always looked the winner as he dictated things from the front yesterday.
He eventually finished four lengths clear of Project Bluebook, although John Quinn was happy with his runner-up, who had last been seen winning a Grade Two juvenile hurdle at Fairyhouse in April. He will head back across the Irish Sea at the start of next month to tackle the Galway Hurdle, which forms part of the Galway Festival, and should be nicely tuned up after yesterday’s outing.
Quinn was even more satisfied an hour-or-so later when he saddled The Stalking Moon (7-2) to land the second division of the Racinguk.com Handicap Stakes.
Like Quinn, Tim Easterby is based in Malton, and he ensured the North Yorkshire success story continued in the Lookers Volkswagen Handicap Stakes.
Easterby’s Our Charlie Brown (7-2) was flat to the boards in the closing stages, but the three-year-old kept pulling out more and finished a nose clear of Heir Of Excitement, another beaten jolly on what proved a mixed day for favourite backers.
Our Charlie Brown had failed to settle at Ayr last month, but dropped in grade and hidden away before being produced for a late finish, he looks capable of making a successful step back up in class in the future.
Mark Walford trains just down the road from Easterby in Sheriff Hutton, and he was celebrating when Carlovian (11-4) justified favouritism to repel the fast-finishing Grey Destiny to land the first division of the Racinguk.com Handicap Stakes.
Carlovian went into yesterday’s race as a 23-race maiden, but had been improving gradually since leaving Chris Kellett’s yard and kicked on again as he dug deep to come out on top of a blanket finish.
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