Tommy Berry has ended the first Saturday meeting of the new season with a winning double, including a stakes success.

But it was a close run thing with Berry among the riders ready to call time on Saturday's meeting after the third race as the rain which had been expected to clear did anything but.

After Berry won the Jockey Celebration Day (1000m) aboard Invitations, he and his fellow riders complained of visibility problems but agreed to give it one more try.

After the fourth event, the rain eased and Berry went on to take out the Listed Rosebud on Thronum on a track he described as the heaviest he had ever ridden on.

"It is the heaviest track I've ever ridden on," Berry said.

"But it's also safe. The ground is in great condition.

"They're getting right into it but it's just because of the persistent rain you're fogging up straight away. With the kick-back and the rain it's making it hard to see."

Chief steward Marc Van Gestel said it was lucky the rain stopped.

"It was the heaviest Randwick track in my time here," he said.

Van Gestel has been a Sydney steward for 20 years.