Berry Clever

The most striking thing about Berry Clever is what happens when the skies open. On wet or muddy ground, it wins 3 races from 9 attempts — that is a win rate of 33%, or roughly 1 in every 3 races. Compare that to its overall record of 1 in every 7 or 8, and the picture becomes clear: when conditions are testing, this horse moves up a gear. Trainers and jockeys notice these things, and so do savvy racegoers.

Its spiritual home appears to be Kempton Park, where it has won 3 of its 9 races — an outstanding return for any horse at a track it visits regularly. Kempton's all-weather surface suits a certain profile of horse, and Berry Clever fits it perfectly. The first of those wins came on 14 October 2024, and the relationship has clearly only grown. At 7 furlongs to a mile — roughly a minute to a minute and a quarter of racing — it has won 3 from 15, a 20% win rate, which means it wins 1 in every 5 races at its preferred trip. That is a horse in its comfort zone.

Jockey Silvestre De Sousa, one of the most experienced riders in British racing, has partnered Berry Clever in 9 of its races and won 2 of them — a win rate of 22%, well above the horse's overall average. When a jockey of that calibre keeps coming back to ride the same horse, it tells you something about how the partnership feels from the saddle. Trainer Chris Dwyer, based in Newmarket — the heartland of British flat racing — has sent out 8 winners this season, and Berry Clever is among them, having won at Great Yarmouth just four weeks ago.

Recent form reads 5-4-1-2-3-3, which is the sequence of a horse bang in form and running consistently well. Racing just yesterday, Berry Clever is very much active and in the mix.