Berkeley Square is chasing a rare slice of history this weekend as he attempts to defend his title in the Ballarat Cup, a feat achieved by only one local horse in the past 10 years.
Kiwia was the last to go back-to-back, winning in 2018 over 2200m before repeating the effort in 2019 when the race was shortened to 2000m.
Trainer Dan O’Sullivan celebrated a special milestone when Berkeley Square won last year’s Cup and is excited by the prospect of another triumph.
“I would never say that it was a goal winning the race, although you always like to win any good race,” O’Sullivan said.
“We had Tuscan Fire nearly start favourite in it one year and then we just got beaten with Affair To Remember during the COVID year, so it really was a big buzz last year, and the horse deserved it.
“Then you throw Jaylah (Kennedy) in the mix. She got back on him, it was her 100th career win and her first Listed win on her favourite horse in her own backyard.”
Had the programming remained unchanged, Berkeley Square may have contested the Group 2 Zipping Classic (2400m) at Sandown instead of Caulfield.
He finished third in the Zipping last year before returning seven days later to claim the Ballarat Cup.
O’Sullivan opted to avoid Caulfield this year due to wet conditions, believing the gelding hadn’t fully recovered from a heavy track when finishing fifth in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2600m) earlier in the month.
“As much as he has been effective on a wet track, his last run it was pretty wet, so I thought I would rather keep him for Ballarat,” O’Sullivan said.
“Four weeks between runs, back to the 2000 (metres), he’s freshened up nicely.
“He’s nice and bright and we’re trying to go back-to-back.”
Berkeley Square is among 29 Ballarat Cup nominations, joined by Air Assault, Eclipse Stakes winner Casino Seventeen, Kingswood and Ciaron Maher’s Saint George.
O’Sullivan said he would have loved to engage Jaylah Kennedy again, but her rehab from knee surgery is still ongoing.
“I spoke to her the other day, and it won’t be until January I would say,” O’Sullivan said.
“It’s one of those injuries you can’t come back too soon from. If you fall off, or twist the knee, you go back to where you were, so you have to be right.”
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