Trainer Ed Dunlop has moved quickly to snap up leading Sydney jockey Tommy Berry for the ride on Trip To Paris in the Emirates Melbourne Cup a fortnight today.
The Ascot Gold Cup winner was partnered by the 24-year-old when running a highly promising trial for the race that stops a nation when finishing a staying-on second in the BMW Caulfield Cup on Saturday and is now as short as 6-1 to go one better in Australia’s greatest race.
Dunlop, who has a strong second string for the Flemington feature in three-time Melbourne Cup runner-up Red Cadeaux, will have been mindful of competition for Berry’s services with the young jockey due to partner Quest For More for trainer Roger Charlton when he warms up for the world’s richest handicap in the William Hill Geelong Cup on Wednesday (6am).
Quest For More has top weight and a wide draw to defy in the mile-and-a-half handicap but Charlton remains hopeful of a bold run. The Clarehaven handler said on his website: “He has the misfortune of being drawn 16/17 on a turning track, and he is shouldering what would be the highest winning weight since 1966.
“So the stats are against him but he is in very good form, and my staff with him couldn’t be happier. From his draw he will be on the outside, and I am hoping that Tommy Berry is able to slot in as close to the rail as possible, somewhere in the mid-pack. He is a traveller, rather than a finisher so the draw has not been helpful but I am sure he will run well.”
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Quest For More is a general 9-2 second favourite for the Geelong Cup but as long as 40-1 for the Melbourne Cup.