You may need to be of a certain age to remember horse trainer Jack Berry.
He was a revelation.
You may wonder in what way. Berry started training horses in the 1970s. However, I remember him from the mid 1980s when I was a teenager. His owners weren’t wealthy Arabs with money to burn. Or the old school establishment who bought horses for later season and in no rush to get them on course. The trainer who was known for always wearing his lucky red shirt bought bargain buys and usually two-year-olds who would be out in the first few weeks of the season.
The reason why? Because he would pick up a lot of wins in the early season before the ‘big guns’ came out.
His style of training turned traditional methods on their head.
Berry’s approach was to get his horses fit and ready to race. In fact, he was known as the ‘King of the two-year-olds’. I have some very fond memories of his training juveniles in the early 90s. In fact, it would be brilliant if we had a trainer who took the same approach in these modern times.
He once wrote a book: ‘It’s tougher at the Bottom’ referring to how hard it was for him to be a success compared with the money stables with all the blue bloods. He used to be a National Hunt jockey and he said he broke more bones than he had winners. It’s even harder when you consider he had about 50 broken bones!
You may remember a few of his talented two-year-olds:
Paris House
Rosselli
Sellhurstpark Flyer
Bolshoi
One of his best horses was Mind Games, who started his career winning the first two-year-old of the season, taking the Brocklesby Stakes. You have to remember this was back in 1995, so a long time ago. However, this colt went on to prove his worth winning 7 races the best of them the Temple Stakes (Group 2) which he won twice.
Fond memories.
I have an old issue of The Sporting Life – Weekender (1995). Berry wrote a column in the paper, which looking back, was quite insightful. He talked about the highs and lows of racing including moaning about the handicapper putting his horse up in the weights and considered it had no chance of winning any time soon. He said he got it wrong when it won easily thereafter.
A very talented trainer and a man who has raised millions for charity, particularly Jack Berry House.
He’s still going strong.
Photo: JC 2025
