Top Sydney jockey Tommy Berry gives himself a great chance of winning his second Group 1 $750,000 McGrath Estate Agents Metropolitan (2400m) at Randwick on Saturday with Sacred Master.
The Chris Waller trained Sacred Master is coming off a win in the Group 3 $175,000 XXXX Gold Newcastle Cup (2200m) on the Beaumont track at Newcastle on September 16, the same race that Glencadam Gold won before Berry steered him to a win in the 2012 Metropolitan.
“Sacred Master comes through the same form line as Glencadam Gold when he won the Metrop, so it looks pretty similar,” Berry told The Daily Telegraph.
“Watching this bloke’s style of racing, he attacks the line strongly and he has winkers on which will keep him more focused in the last furlong of his race.”
“He was ridden quiet in the Newcastle Cup and he was ridden on the pace in the Wyong Cup so he is a very versatile horse and he will give himself every chance.”
Berry will have to keep his options open if he goes forward or back from barrier twelve in the thirteen horse field and see how the race pans out in the run to the first corner out of the straight.
Sacred Master is one of six runners Waller will saddle up in the Metropolitan and is on the second line of betting at $6.50 behind stablemate Antonio Giuseppe and the John Thompson trained Sir John Hawkwood who share favouritism at $5.50.
Top weight Who Shot Thebarman is the next best of Waller’s runners and has firmed in from $11 to be well fancied at $8.50 while his other three starters are all at double figure odds, with Junoob at $13, Storm The Stars at $14 and Grand Marshal at $26.
– horseracing.com.au
