Trainer Wayne Hawkes believes Berkeley Square should be a short-priced favourite for the Group 1 Caulfield Guineas.
The three-year-old gelding won the Listed Exford Plate in breathtaking fashion at Flemington on Saturday in what was his third win from four career starts for trainer Dan O’Sullivan.
Hawkes, who had Foujita San in the race, loved what he saw from Berkeley Square who had been shuffled back to second last before motoring through the field to win narrowly.
“He can’t do much more than what that horse has done,” Hawkes said on SEN Track’s Giddy Up.
“They’ve supposedly knocked back big offers from overseas. That horse won only by a short margin, but wow, his turn of foot was amazing.”
Watch Berkeley Square’s win below:
The gap came & Berkeley Square went BANG! 💥 @DOSullivanRace should have plenty of fun with him this spring 👌 @CWilliamsJockey pic.twitter.com/DFWkyEWH7F
— Racing.com (@Racing) September 10, 2022
Giddy Up host Gareth Hall asked Hawkes if he looks for the times horses run or simply whatever catches his eye whenever assessing their ability.
“He’s not running time but it’s the way he’s doing it, because he was held up for most of that straight at Flemington before he saw some daylight,” Hall said.
“From a trainer’s point of view, do you worry sometimes about the clock or have you got to believe what you see?”
Hawkes says you cannot overlook the quality of a horse who possesses such a turn of foot, labelling him as the “horse to beat” in this year’s Guineas.
And he would know what it takes to win the 1600-metre Group 1 for three-year-olds having trained All Too Hard, Divine Prophet and Ole Kirk to victory in the race over the last decade.
“He couldn’t run time because he was running up backsides until about 250 metres from home,” Hawkes said further.
“He just picked them up and whopped them within 50 metres. His turn of foot is as good as I’ve seen of any three-year-old in the country this year.
“He should be short-priced favourite for the Caulfield Guineas and winding in.
“I know a little bit about the Caulfield Guineas, it’s been a good race for me the last 8-10 years.
“He’s the Caulfield Guineas horse to beat, there’s no doubt.”
Berkeley Square is currently rated a $7 chance with Sportsbet for the Caulfield Guineas, behind Jacquinot and Golden Mile who share the $6 quote.
The Guineas is run at Caulfield on October 8.
“He should be the short-priced favourite for the Caulfield Guineas.”
— SENTrack (@SEN_track) September 12, 2022
Wayne Hawkes is a big fan of @DOSullivanRace's Berkeley Square.#HorseRacing | @bet365_aus pic.twitter.com/iZDQwFM9fO