Craig Kerry
Jockey Tommy Berry and disqualified trainer John O’Shea told an inquiry that communication between them was restricted to welfare checks and discussions about overseas trips as stewards examined potential breaches of the Randwick conditioner’s ban.
Racing NSW stewards held an inquiry on Thursday following post-race televised comments from Berry on June 3 at Warwick Farm indicating he had spoken to O’Shea and usual co-trainer Tom Charlton about the tactics on eventual winner Hovland that morning.
O’Shea started a four-month disqualification for improper conduct on March 17 and must adhere to a long list of restrictions, including taking part in the training of horses. If charged and found guilty, O’Shea’s ban could be restarted from the time of a breach.
Thursday’s inquiry was adjourned without a decision after questioning of Berry, O’Shea and Charlton, who is now the stable’s sole trainer.
Chief steward Tom Moxon said Berry’s phone records indicated calls between Berry and O’Shea on the morning of June 3. They also showed calls from Berry to O’Shea on Golden Slipper day, March 21; on May 30, when he was riding Athabascan for Charlton, and on June 1 after he rode Snow In May in a trial for the stable.
Berry and O’Shea denied talking about horses during the calls. Moxon pointed out multiple times the timing of the calls on days Berry had been riding or trialling horses from the stable.
“I get the questions you’re asking, Mr Moxon,” Berry said towards the end of the inquiry. “You can ask them to me a couple more times if you like, but I just can’t honestly offer any more than I’ve already said.”
Earlier, Berry said: “Riding for them just sort of jogs your memory to pick up the phone to call John and see how he’s doing and see what the go is.”
Berry said mentioning “Tom and John” during the post-race interview “was force of habit”.
“For so long you get drilled into you to mention John and Tom,” Berry said. “For a while there I was only mentioning John, and that’s obviously not right when Tom’s in the partnership.”
O’Shea said he called all jockeys, except for Berry, riding for the stable on Golden Slipper day to tell them to speak to Charlton about racing matters. He said a 22-second call from Berry after the meeting was to tell him he could not make a Phuket boot camp, and not about the run of Quietness that day.
O’Shea said calls and visits from Berry were just welfare checks, and he was “very grateful”.
“He’s right. I’m not in a better frame of mind,” O’Shea said.
He said: “there’s no way that I would have been discussing any tactics for the horses with jockeys”.
“And just to tell you how serious I take this matter. I went 10,000 miles to America to attend … the Kentucky Derby, and we’d made application to go to the meeting with Racing NSW two weeks prior to our departure,” he added.
“Racing NSW never responded until four days after the race. We still never attended the race meeting on the basis that I didn’t want to compromise my licence.”
“There’s been no attempt to conceal my conversations with Tommy Berry. And that’s because of nature of those conversations were purely on the basis of our friendship.”
Moxon also questioned the pair about a change to their WhatsApp conversation on May 14, when disappearing messages were turned on. Messages would then disappear after 24 hours. Both said they would not know how to change the settings and they had nothing to hide.
