Wearing the blue his twin brother Nathan loved, Tom Berry produced a shock result in the Queen Of The Turf at Randwick on Diamond Drille.
The first thoughts of everyone on track was for Berry, who is loved as are few jockeys. But his first thought was for his late brother.
"That one’s for you, Nath," Berry said. "I can’t explain my feelings now. God, I miss him so much. That one is for you, Mate. Good onya, Nath.
"Nathan never got to ride a group 1 winner and this one was his ...
“Dad is here today with Mum. He hasn’t been to a Saturday meeting since we started. I can’t explain how I feel."
Diamond Drille held off the John O'Shea-trained Gypsy Diamond by a short neck. The tiring Red Tracer was another half-length away in third.
"I have never been too happy to run second in a group 1 in my life," O'Shea said. "I didn't even [know] what the horse was that beat us but when I saw Tom's name next to it, that put a smile on my face."
Even Diamond Drille owner Greg Kolivos made Berry the focus rather than his mare, which had come back from a tendon injury to become a group 1 winner.
"For Tom you couldn't ask for a better result given what he has been through," Kolivos said.
“What a young man, I’m a dad now and to see a young man grow up like the way he has, he’s something special."
Punters were left shocked by the result as favourite Catkins finished sixth. Trainer Chris Waller was left disappointed by Catkins while Red Tracer just failed to see out the mile and finished third.
"They were average," Waller said. "They raced flat."
The win was a reward for patience and a brilliant training performance by Gai Waterhouse. Although the tendon injury kept Diamond Drille from the track Waterhouse had her aimed at the Queen Of The Turf.
"Gai told us she was just going to take her along shortly and maybe get to this race," Kolivos said. "I wasn't that confident about getting to a group 1 but when she won the Aspiration [Quality] I started to think she might be right and her run [fourth in the Emancipation Stakes to Catkins] last time was good.
"I knew if she got a dry track she would run a great race and when it started to dry I got confident. But to win that – I'm over the moon."
Waterhouse could not believe the $41 starting price for Diamond Drille.
"She has always been underestimated," she said. "She is very good at a mile and Tom just rode her perfectly."
James McDonald had missed the start on Gypsy Diamond but when he got up on the inside of the tiring Solicit she had felt like the winner, he told the stewards later.
"She did exactly what she did last week," McDonald said. "I punched her [early] and she was just sluggish. She just wasn't responding for a bit, but when she got there she travelled good. Lucky I got all the runs when I needed them."
Nash Rawiller offered to stewards that Red Tracer had "just petered out a little bit and she's not quite going like she was in the spring".
He added: "It's good for Tommy. It's been a bloody hard month for him."
