Tommy Berry waited three weeks for the chance to redeem himself on Rain Drum and made the most of it with a winning performance at Rosehill on Saturday.
Berry was unhappy with himself for going too soon in the Listed Wagga Gold Cup last start when the Gai Waterhouse-trained galloper was run down late to finish third.
Rain Drum stepped out again in Saturday’s Wilson Asset Management Handicap (2000m) and this time Berry timed his ride to perfection and the progressive four-year-old gelding held his rivals at bay to win by 1-1/4-lengths.
“It was good to redeem myself after my ride in the Wagga Cup. It wasn’t my best ride,” Berry said.
Berry’s relief was clear to see as he clenched his fist and gave a cheer to the crowd as he crossed the finish line on Rain Drum.
“It’s a pressure game and Nathan (Berry) and I are both perfectionists and we really beat ourselves up when we don’t ride good races on horses,” Berry said.
“I was the first person to come back and say ‘I probably cost you the Wagga Cup’.
“So to win on it today, I was very happy to do it for the owners.”
Berry took Rain Drum to the front with his twin brother Nathan sitting to his outside on the Chris Waller-trained Moriarty.
Rain Drum ($3.20 fav) beat off that runner early in the straight and kicked from the 300 metre mark to hold off the challenge from the Bart Cummings-trained Kim Warrior.
The victory also continued Waterhouse’s string of Saturday winners in Sydney.
Waterhouse has now prepared at least one winner at the past 16 Saturday metropolitan meetings.
The trainer said the people at her stable were thrilled with the current run of winners.
“The success the stable is having, everyone at the stable is very aware of it and the team are getting such a buzz out of it,” Waterhouse said.
“He won like a really good horse today. I’m not sure where we are going to go with him now.”
