Jack Berry MBE and connections of Dubai Millennium and Goldikova were presented with QIPCO British Champions Series Hall of Fame medals at Ascot on Saturday.
A former jockey and trainer, Berry is synonymous with his fund-raising initiatives for the Injured Jockeys Fund, work that has helped the charity open state-of-the-art rehabilitation facilities in Lambourn, Malton, Newmarket and Taunton.
Jack Berry MBE (centre) (Pic – Megan Coggin)
The 87-year-old, who was awarded an MBE in 1996, is the third person to be recognised within the Special Contributor category, following Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Khalid Abdullah.
Berry said: “To be inducted into the Hall of Fame is a huge honour. I always knew I wanted to be a jockey from when I was five years old and now, at almost 87, to be added to such a list of horses and humans who have had such an impact on the sport is truly humbling.
“I am certainly in good company; to even be mentioned in the same breath as Prince Khalid Abdullah, Sir Henry Cecil, The Queen and my old pal Lester Piggott, is some achievement and I couldn’t be prouder.”
Dubai Millennium was a sensation on turf and dirt at the turn of the century and Sheikh Mohammed’s favourite horse ranks alongside some of the all-time greats with a Timeform rating of 140.
Successful on nine of his 10 starts, he dazzled at three before coming of age as a four-year-old with spectacular victories in the Dubai World Cup and Prince Of Wales’s Stakes.
Dubai Millennium’s racing and stud careers were cut short, but his legacy lives on through his outstanding son Dubawi.
Goldikova was a superstar for her owners Alain and Gerard Wertheimer, winning 14 Gr1 races in three countries between 2008 and 2011.
Trained in France by Freddy Head, she defeated the boys nine times during her career, including an unprecedented three-timer in the Breeders’ Cup Mile.
The homebred enjoyed two significant successes in Britain, taking the Newmarket’s Falmouth Stakes in 2009 and the 2010 Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot.
