Berkeley Square primed for Adelaide Cup raid

BALLARAT trainer Dan O’Sullivan is eyeing a second Adelaide Cup win in early March, with his dual Ballarat Cup winner Berkeley Square on track for a tilt at one of South Australia’s most prestigious races.

The six-year-old gelding, who made it back-to-back Ballarat Cup wins in December with a stirring triumph in the 2000m Listed feature, will be looking to defy history in the 3200m Cup, having never run over a trip longer than 2600m.

His record beyond 2500m includes a third in the 2024 Group 3 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2600m) at Flemington and a fifth in the same race last year, and a fourth in last year’s Group 3 Bart Cummings (2520m), also at Flemington, all lead-up races to his Ballarat Cup triumphs.

O’Sullivan previously won the Adelaide Cup in 2008 with Lacey Underall, who was beaten only narrowly the previous year by Gallic.

While the step up to 3200m remains a query, O’Sullivan is confident that if any horse is capable of the rise in distance it is Berkeley Square.

“The owners are very keen to go there – most of them are from Adelaide, so are keen to have a crack at the Adelaide Cup,” he said.

“It’s going to be a bit of an ask for him as he’s never raced over the 3200m trip, but we have got a plan going forward to get him to that and that’s what we’ll try and do.

“2600m is as far as he’s gone, but he’s a ripping horse with a great attitude and that will help him get there.

“What he might struggle in distance, the class will get him through.

“If I didn’t think it was possible we wouldn’t go there, but I’m keen to have a crack at it.”

Berkeley Square, who returned to racing at Flemington over 2000m on 17 January, is scheduled to run the VOBIS Gold Heath (2000m) at Caulfield this Saturday and will likely back-up over 2500m at Flemington seven days later.

O’Sullivan said Berkeley Square had thrived in the aftermath of his second Ballarat Cup win.

“He wouldn’t have had long to spell to bring him back for the autumn, so we decided to keep going with him,” he said.

“He’s thriving in the stable life. He’ll have a crack at Adelaide and then have a good break.

“He pulled up great from the Ballarat Cup. Everything went good for him that day; he had a good run in the race and the track conditions suited him.

“For a win like that, it was quite easy for him, so he’s come through it well.”

A crack at the Adelaide Cup would be especially sentimental for astute and successful South Australian thoroughbred owner and breeder David Peacock.

“He’s a bit old and fragile these days and doesn’t leave home much, but he’s never seen this horse race live,” O’Sullivan said.

“It will be good to take this horse back home for David.

“That’s my main reason for wanting to go there.

“He was on the committee and chairman of the SAJC (South Australian Jockey Club) committee, so it will be a big deal for him if we could pull off an Adelaide Cup.”

A winner of nine of 37 starts, including four at either Group or Listed level, and placed on nine occasions, Berkeley Square has amassed just over $2 million in stake earnings.

Sentiment aside, his biggest career win was in the Group 2 Vase as a three-year-old at Moonee Valley in 2022.

Reflecting on back-to-back Ballarat Cup wins, two months on the day still holds plenty of fond memories for O’Sullivan.

“It’s a big thing, and being a local horse makes it that little bit more exciting,” he said.

“The local people get around the occasion and enjoy it, which makes it great.

“I probably enjoyed this one a bit more – it was a little bit of a challenge to get there again.

“I enjoyed it, but you are always back at work the next day and looking at what’s ahead of you.

“One day we’ll sit back and reflect on what a big achievement it has been.”

O’Sullivan is at this stage anticipating on flying solo in Adelaide with Berkeley Square, with no other runners expected to make the trip across the border.