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By Ray Hickson

Tommy Berry’s take on the Shelby Sixtysix story is that it’s so great for racing and he certainly hopes it continues to evolve at Randwick on Saturday.

Tommy Berry and Shelby Sixtysix (Pic: Steve Hart)

Sure, Berry has a vested interest. He’ll ride the cult galloper as he chases an unlikely win in the Group 1 $2.5 million Furphy TJ Smith Stakes (1200m).

It’s unlikely because we all know where the gelding was as recently as a month ago. It’s not unlikely because of what he achieved in the month of March.

You couldn't even call it a throw at the stumps, but a gallop trainer Danny Williams said he needed to have, in the Group 2 Challenge Stakes (1000m) on March 5 but it changed Shelby Sixtysix’s course dramatically and has taken his connections on a wild ride.

As a $61 outsider in a four horse field he ran past Nature Strip and almost chased down Eduardo in that race.

A week later he was a Group 3 winner of the Maurice McCarten and another week later a horse whose Highway win on February 26 broke a run of outs closing on two years was a Group 1 winner of the Galaxy.

“It’s been an incredible story, in so many different ways,’’ Berry said.

“The trainer Danny Williams, where the horse has come from, and what he’s been able to achieve with him.

“I was looking back to horses like Takeover Target, he started off at Queanbeyan. But it’s not like this guy started off and quickly worked through the ranks, he’s been racing in the bush and Highways for quite a while.

“Obviously on wet tracks and being a fit horse has been a massive part of where he is.

“But you’ve only got to look at him in the yard. He’s the best looking horse in the race every time he goes around.

“He’s a big strong boy, he doesn’t look like a Highway horse.

“He looks like a Group 1 star when you look at him and he’s starting to show that. His form really matches up with his looks in the yard.”

Shelby Sixtysix sat on the third line of betting with TAB at $6 on Wednesday in Australia's number one sprint race of the autumn. That would have been unthinkable just a few weeks ago when he had a handicap rating of 62.

His rating now sits on 103.

Berry said as amazing as the five-year-old’s rise has been, in reality he has to be a chance.

And because of where the horse has come from a win would be just as memorable as his three previous successes in the race. Those three wins were nothing short of spectacular.

“Some of my best memories on a racetrack have been in the TJ Smith with Chautauqua,’’ he said.

“He carries a great story, he has a great following now, Danny has done a marvellous job with him. There’s so many parts to this story. It’d be good if he’s able to achieve it.

“I can’t see why he couldn’t win. I went through the field and there’s not too many runners who don’t have a chance.”

Connections paid a $55,000 late entry fee for Shelby Sixtysix to take his place in the TJ Smith. It’s natural that when nominations closed for The Star Championships an entry in the TJ wasn’t on the radar - he’d just finished fifth in a Class 3 Highway as an $11 chance.

As Berry said, his form now warrants it especially given the heavy ground.

The task is going to be tougher than last time he met Eduardo and Nature Strip, who he will jump alongside, but what he has done in his past four starts is run sectionals superior to any other horse at the meeting.

Shelby Sixtysix wins the Galaxy at Rosehill on March 19

He clocked the fastest last 600m of the day when winning his Highway back on February 26, running second to Eduardo in the Challenge and in winning the Maurice McCarten.

His final 200m in the Galaxy was the meeting’s best for that sectional.

“He split the two favourites at weight-for-age over 1000m, he’s got to do that over 1200m,’’ Berry said.

“It might be a worry that he’s two weeks between runs because all of his form has been on the back up and he’s drawn a bit awkward but in saying that he can go forward or back.

“He was the strongest horse at the end of 1100m at Rosehill and that was on a very heavy track so you couldn’t see him not running out the 1200m strong."

All the fields, form and replays for Day 1 of The Star Championships at Randwick