Golden Slipper winning jockey Tommy Berry will forego the chance to win this year’s Sydney premiership in favour of a three-month stint in Hong Kong.
Overreach gave the 22-year-old his fourth Group One win in Saturday’s $3.5 million Slipper. He holds a half win lead over Hugh Bowman in the race for the jockeys’ title.
The No.2 rider for Overreach’s trainer Gai Waterhouse behind Nash Rawiller, Berry will replace fellow Australian Tim Clark as a club jockey in Hong Kong.
Clark, who is returning to Australia for personal reasons, has enjoyed success in Hong Kong including a Group One victory in the Hong Kong Classic in February.
Berry will take up the Hong Kong contract on April 28, the day after the final day of the Randwick autumn carnival.
Overreach runs in Saturday’s Sire’s Produce Stakes and, if successful, she could go on to try to win the final leg of two-year-old triple crown, the Champagne Stakes, on Berry’s last day in Sydney, for the time being.
Berry said he was going to Hong Kong with the blessing of Waterhouse and would be back when the three-month contract ended.
