“I’ve always done a lot of work on her, and I’ve seen her beat me a lot, so it’s been hard to watch, but she’s in great form.
“She worked really good on Tuesday morning. The win was excellent last start and I always thought she’d improve again.”
Berry was excited about a first chance on Marhoona, which won the Slipper in March at just her third start and has not raced since. Freedman has held Marhoona back, scratching her from the Shorts last week, searching for the right kick-off point.
Golden Slipper winner Marhoona makes her long-awaited return to racing on Saturday.Credit: Getty Images
“Along the way I could have been on her here or there, but things didn’t work out,” Berry said.
“Going into the Slipper, she looked like she wasn’t going to make the field, so I took something else.
But I’ve always done a bit of work on her here and there, so I know her pretty well.
“And obviously with Damian Lane being the one who won the Slipper on her, him not being in Sydney, it helps me a bit there, too.
“She has come back in great order, she trialled really well against Briasa a couple of weeks ago and Briasa’s come out and done really well [when second in the Shorts], so that trial form is good.”
Manaal is a $3.60 chance with Sportsbet and Marhoona a $3.30 favourite. Both have drawn well in barrier four and give Berry a great chance to claim another feature with Freedman after their recent Furious and Tea Rose stakes victories with Apocalyptic.
Loading
Adding to Berry’s card is the return of the Ciaron Maher-trained Gringotts, which was scratched from the $1 million 7 Stakes (1600m) last week due to poor blood work. The group 1 winner faces an easier race, the group 2 Shannon Stakes (1500m), on Saturday, but he has to carry 61 kilograms.
“I guess he’s up to that level now where you’ve got to be 100 per cent,” Berry said. “And he had this race where he could still be three weeks into the King Charles Stakes, so it’s still fitting in quite well with his preparation.
“He enjoys the 1500 there at Rosehill, and he’ll be very hard to beat.
“He’s not foreign to carrying big weights, and it looks like it’s perfectly set up for him.”
