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By Ray Hickson

Tom Sherry will head to Royal Randwick on Saturday with a sense of unfinished business when he’s reunited with class mare Icebath and quietly confident a maiden Group 1 win is also within his reach.

Jockey Tom Sherry (Pic: Bradley Photos).

The former champion apprentice partners Matcha Latte in the Group 1 $2m Moet & Chandon Spring Champion Stakes (2000m) and has his first ride on Icebath since February last year in the $2m The Invitation (1400m).

It was on the latter, almost two years ago, that Sherry came within a whisker of winning the Golden Eagle, then carrying $7.5m in prizemoney, while still an apprentice and that is one race he still thinks about.

“She’s a terrific mare, it was a tough pill to swallow in the Golden Eagle,’’ Sherry said.

“I’m not sure I realised how big the Golden Eagle was, I didn’t feel any pressure, it was only a couple of weeks later I realised how big an occasion it was.

“We’ve had a good connection together and it’s always good to reunite with those good mares. I was fortunate enough for my name to be in the hat.”

Sherry last rode Icebath into third in the Group 2 Guy Walter Stakes (1400m) in February 2021. Since then she’s recorded narrow defeats in three Group 1s, among five placings at the top level, and her lone win came in the inaugural Invitation.

She started $3.60 in the Group 1 Epsom Handicap (1600m) three weeks ago and finished fourth and was placed behind Zaaki and Anamoe prior to that.

“She’s been nosed out in a few Group 1s, she’s been running against some of the best weight-for-age horses in the country and she’s dropping back to her own sex into a race she won last year,’’ Sherry said.

“She definitely has the credentials and the CV to back it up again. She went through a similar preparation last prep towards The Invitation, she’s on the right path and as long as everything goes her way she’s got to be the one to beat.”

Icebath, $4.80 with TAB on Wednesday, has a reputation as a superior wet tracker but from his observations Sherry says it’s not as simple as the six-year-old having a liking for heavy ground.

If Brad Widdup’s stable star is to go back-to-back on Saturday it will be because she’s settled comfortably and is able to be produced when Sherry wants to, as he did when she won at Royal Randwick a week prior to the Golden Eagle.

“I think she handles heavy ground better than most others but she won the Invitation last year on a good track,’’ he said.

“For me it’s about Icebath, I’ve ridden her in all sorts of conditions and I think the ground isn’t a concern. It’s whether she’s comfortable in the run, you can’t ask her to be where she doesn’t want to be. You can’t take her off the bridle too early.

“She’s not brilliant away from the barriers but from an inside gate she can jump and you give her a furlong to find her feet. It’s an asset for her.”

Sherry’s former boss Mark Newnham notched his first Group 1 win as a trainer when Maid Of Heaven won the Spring Champion in 2018, as did the filly’s jockey Rachel King, and Sherry is confident Matcha Latte has what it takes to hand him a maiden major in the same event.

It will be the 24-year-old jockey’s fourth ride at Group 1 level and easily his best winning chance.

Icebath runs fourth in the Epsom Handicap

Matcha Latte had a hard luck story to tell when he was edged out by Sharp ‘N’ Smart in the Group 3 Gloaming Stakes (1600m) run at Warwick Farm after he blew the start.

“He was four weeks between runs leading into the Gloaming and he had to do a bit of work early to find a position after missing the break,’’ he said.

“I thought it was a huge effort on his behalf. If anything at all went right he wins.

“He came through the race very well and he’s a horse that will run 2000m no problem.

“If the small things go his way I think he can win for sure. He’s a beautiful horse to deal with and I think Saturday is his day.”

All the fields, form and replays for Saturday's Randwick meeting