Trainer Chris Waller praises Tommy Berry's tactical mastery as Cigar Flick storms home to victory at Randwick
Waller had a different plan in mind for his daughter of Churchill before Berry went off script to produce her with a barnstorming run down the outside to win the ATC Thank You Owners Benchmark 72 Handicap (1100m).
'I was actually watching the race with Charlie (Duckworth) and said 'I don't know what this Tommy is doing, we said we were going to come through them and have the last crack at them',' Waller said.
'Then I said after the race 'that's why Tommy is a jockey and I am a trainer'. He knew what he was doing.'
Berry settled Cigar Flick in her customary position towards the rear of the field and ensured the daughter of Churchill kept momentum as they rounded the turn in a four-wide line.
Cigar Flick ($13) unleashed a powerful burst down the outside to run over the top of the Matthew Smith -trained World Alliance ($11) to prevail by one-and-a-quarter lengths.
John Thompson 's Bundeena ($8) gave them something to catch inside the final furlong before finishing third.
'She is one that you have to ride for bad luck and hope for a bit of good luck,' Berry said.
'Today the opportunity presented to get her to the outside.
'I still had a bum to follow and be patient on her and she reaped the rewards of what's been a consistent preparation without any luck.
'She is in at the right time of year.'
Cigar Flick lights it up! ðŸ'¥
The @cwallerracing trained galloper flies down the outside to win giving @TommyBerry21 a race-to-race double! ✌� pic.twitter.com/IIJYG2qfEN
â€' SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) July 26, 2025
• Nashville Jack in fine tune with slashing win
Cigar Flick hadn't won for more than a year heading into Saturday but Waller is hoping to win another race with the mare before she is retired to stud later this year.
'She is a lovely horse, beautiful,' Waller said.
'She won't have too much more racing. Her mum is a sister to Fangirl so she is well bred and she will go to stud this year. She has done a great job.
'We will see what else we can find.
'This type of distance and these type of conditions and she can win another one of them.'
The win came less than an hour after Berry produced a vastly different ride to score on the Ciaron Maher -trained Lugh.
His decision to push forward early on the son of Snitzel in the Marcellin College Benchmark 78 Handicap (1300m) proved decisive.
Lugh ($9) travelled well outside the lead and kept finding over in the straight to hold off Chris Waller's Starman ($16) by three-quarters of a length with the Bjorn Baker -trained Slinky ($21) working home strongly for third.
It's @TommyBerry21 and @cmaherracing combining in race 7 at Randwick as Lugh salutes! ðŸ'� pic.twitter.com/jH6xZeBAgf
â€' SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) July 26, 2025
• 'Sneaky chance': Pride mare shocks rivals at $51
Lugh is still only lightly-raced and has highlighted his considerable talent in just a handful of starts, winning four of six.
'He doesn't have much of a turn of foot but has a big action,' Maher's assistant trainer Johann Gerard-Dubord said.
'On a bigger track here at Randwick was going to suit him better.
'He enjoyed the conditions and I thought Tommy (Berry) rode him really well.
'He is a horse that needs a bit of encouragement, he is very casual and has the best attitude.
'The way Tommy rode him, he kept him on his job.'
Stablemate Sacred Rocks was expected to be the horse to beat but was a drifter in betting out to $3.50 and never looked likely.
Apprentice Anna Roper made a mid-race move to settle closer on the daughter of Sacred Falls, which ran out of gas over the concluding stages to miss the placings.
'I don't it really work out for Sacred Rocks,' Gerard-Dubord said.
'She was slow away and just had to make that move mid-race.
'She got going early so was always going to be soft late.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News.com.au
4 hours ago
- News.com.au
Hamish Blake's cake night stuns fans once again
Media personality Hamish Blake has won hearts once again after documenting his attempt at making a birthday cake for one of his children. Blake shares two children, Sonny, 11, and Rudy, eight, with his wife, beauty guru Zoë Foster Blake. Every year, on the eve of one of his children's birthdays, the 43-year-old father documents his endeavour to make a birthday cake, with Rudy's eighth birthday was no exception. It's a Blake family tradition that's become something that many Australians look forward to, with brands and fans alike weighing in. 'This is our Roman Empire,' one social media user added. One commented: 'This is our Super Bowl.' 'She's going to be a spectacular cake,' another added. One social media user said: 'I love the algorithm of Instagram. I don't see your face on my feed at all until it's cake night.' 'Cake night is life, excited to see the LOL cakewalk extravaganza,' another commented. Ahead of the activity, the Lego Masters star took to Instagram to wish people a good morning and 'Happy cake night'. 'Tomorrow is my daughter's eighth birthday party. Tonight, it is cake night,' he said. 'The brief is not impossible — it's a doll. They're called LOL dolls. If you've got young kids, you will know what they are. 'If you don't, good for you. It's a doll with a pretty big head and massive eyes.' Blake said the cake would require a runway, lights, a rainbow plait and an off-the-shoulder shirt. A swinging handbag was also part of the ensemble. Blake said the hardest part was that he was filming with Andy Lee in Melbourne and needed to fly back to Sydney, where he lived, at 5.30pm — which meant the cake process would be starting later than usual. But, the hands-on dad delivered and documented the while journey. He started by making the dolls head and attaching it to a pole, which would later form the body. Blake attached it to the store-bought cake, which he had iced, and then started on the hair. The fondant kept breaking on it. 'I thought it would be like a hair plait, but it's not hair and it's not behaving like hair so we're just going to move onto other stuff,' he said, according to Mamamia. Blake moved back to the runway and the outfit, which was a little smaller than intended. He remedied the issue and pushed along. Eventually, he came back to the hair. It did prompt a slight panic but he pulled through. While the cake did look like a doll, Blake was an extra harsh critic on himself and declared it was only 'Okay'. Finally, at 3am, he was officially done. 'Thanks for hanging in there gang. Happy birthday to the greatest daughter I could imagine,' he added.
Daily Telegraph
4 hours ago
- Daily Telegraph
Melbourne Vixens stun NSW Swifts in preliminary final comeback, grand final vs West Coast Fever
Don't miss out on the headlines from Netball. Followed categories will be added to My News. Melbourne Vixens are riding high after a last ditch effort to beat the NSW Swifts by 66 to 65 points, to book their place in the 2025 Super Netball grand final. They came from behind in the dying seconds of the game, having trailed 51-41 after the third quarter, and will go into next week's match full of confidence having won eight of their last ten games. Watch every game of the 2025 Suncorp Super Netball season, LIVE on Kayo. New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1. Standing in their way however, will be the formidable West Coast Fever, who demolished the Swifts by 32 points in last weekend's major semi-final. Speaking post match captain and MVP Kate Moloney said, 'I'm exhausted but I'm so bloody proud. We were down by ten goals and we found something in that last quarter and they just never stopped fighting.' Coaching her second last match with the Vixens, Simone McKinnis, added, 'We weren't going to walk away from here afraid to take risks. They saw a glimpse and a hope and away they went.' It was the greatest preliminary final comeback in Super Netball history, beating the nine-goal market the Vixens set in 2022 against the Giants. It was a dismal end to the season for Swifts, despite the return of inspirational captain Paige Hadley who has missed the last two rounds with a foot injury. While she provided a calm head and safe pair of hands, the Swifts have been bundled out of the finals in straight sets, after looking untouchable as they went undefeated through the first eight rounds. Melbourne Vixens players celebrate. (Photo by) Simone McKinnis inspired her players. (Photo by) There was immense pressure from the opening whistle, causing fumbles, stray passes and uncharacteristic missed shots. The Swifts were first to take advantage of those errors, going long and high to Grace Nweke in the circle. Despite her athleticism, some balls were sprayed over her head or swatted away by goal keeper Rudi Ellis who finished with six gains, allowing the Vixens to shift gears and take a three point lead into the first break. The Swifts hit the front in the second quarter as their confidence grew, with Helen Housby raising the bar after a quiet few weeks. Passes started going in more smoothly to the circle, with Nweke lifting her shooting from a subpar 77 percent in the first quarter to a total of 53/58 at 91 percent across the match. With the Swifts' Sharni Lambden applying enormous pressure at wing defence, Vixens' skipper Moloney did everything she could to pull her side over the line. She had a strong connection with Sophie Garbin under the post, who picked up the slack while the hero of so many victories, Kiera Austin, struggled for influence early on. The Swifts couldn't believe it. (Photo by Mark) The Vixens seemed down and out of the contest with the deficit sitting at 11 points and their penalties twice their opponents, until Lily Graham sank consecutive supershots to bring the margin back to single digits. In an inspirational last quarter Austin finally switched on her radar when it counted, firing in three long range shots to finish with 12/16 including four from five supershots, while her partner Garbin had a solid 46/47. The Vixens found another gear and rolled over the Swifts in highly emotional scenes. MCKINNIS MAGIC Simone McKinnis will make her final appearance as Vixens' coach in next weekend's grand final, after 212 games in charge of the club. Across 13 years, she's taken them to two titles, three minor premierships and a further three grand final appearances, and will leave massive shoes to fill. It looked like it was going to be McKinnis' final game in charge at the end of the third quarter but an inspiration and emotional final address helped inspire the Vixens to life. 'We have nothing to lose here! Except for throwing our best selves as this contest,' McKinnis said. PAIN FOLLOWS A POINT Remarkably, the previous three Super Netball preliminary finals have been decided by a solitary point, with the Vixens taking out two of those wins, and the Swifts the other. Despite moving on into the grand final, neither side was then able to steal the ultimate victory. Originally published as Super Netball stunner as emotional speech sparks all-time Vixens comeback
News.com.au
5 hours ago
- News.com.au
Australia claim 4x100m relay double at World Swimming Championships
Cop that America, Australia have claimed the 4x100m relay double at the Singapore World Swimming Championships on Sunday. First up it was the women who locked horns with the Aussie quartet of Mollie O'Callaghan, Meg Harris, Milla Jansen and Olivia Wunsch taking to the pool. With two teenagers in Jansen and Wunsch in the team, America went into the final as the favourites but the stage didn't overawe the youngsters. After O'Callaghan and Harris got the Aussies off and running, it was the two youngsters who brought it home. In what was a neck and neck battle, it was Wunsch who produced the swim of her life to hunt down American Tori Huske and touch the wall first by only 0.44 seconds. Then it was over to the men who entered the final as heavy underdogs against the strength of the Italian and American squads. Flynn Southam, Kai James Taylor and Maximillian Giuliani gave it their all through the first three legs, but the Aussies were still stranded behind the Americans. Enter Kyle Chalmers. The sprint king produced a final leg for the ages as he hunted down his Italian and American rivals to touch the wall and hand Australia a commonwealth record and the gold medal. Earlier, Germany's Olympic champion Lukas Maertens won a thrilling 400m freestyle gold pipping Australia's Sam Short by 0.02sec. in a nailbiting finish. Maertens, who broke the world record earlier this year, came home in 3min 42.35sec after a fierce battle with Short, the 2023 world champion. South Korea's Kim Woo-min, the reigning world champion, was third in 3:42.60. Maertens was the favourite for the title after breaking the world record in Stockholm in April, a mark that had stood since 2009. But Short fought him every stroke of the way, losing out after an incredible tussle to the finish. 'I thought we were going a bit faster, to be honest,' Short told Channel 9 after the race. 'It's a high-pressure event. Two fast 400s in a day, really hard. I won two years ago by 0.02, and I just lost by 0.02. I'm happy to be back on the podium after a hard last year, so I can't complain. 'I didn't even know how I was going to go. All staging camp, or at least 75 per cent of it, I was in quarantine, I had Covid. A lot of mental strength that I've learned this year, I'm just stoked.' Short later went on to reveal that his aunty had recently passed away, dedicating his performance to her. 'This year has been really hard,' he said. 'No one really knows everything. I want to dedicate that performance to my aunty who just passed away a couple of weeks ago... it's been quite hard for my family recently... however bad I was hurting there, nowhere near as bad as her battling cancer the last 10 years.' The result gave Maertens his first world title after claiming Olympic gold in Paris last year. He followed that up by setting a new world record of 3:39.96, shaving 0.11sec off the mark achieved by fellow German Paul Biedermann at the world championships in Rome in July 2009. Biedermann's mark of 3:40.07 was achieved wearing a polyurethane swimsuit that has since been banned in competition. Short missed out on an Olympic medal in the event in Paris, finishing fourth. Australia's Elijah Winnington, the Paris Olympics silver medallist, surprisingly failed to qualify for the final. Short finished fastest in the morning heats ahead of Maertens.
