Beriman reunion could become a bucks Party
It will be party time for Group 1winning jockey Nikita Beriman in a $500,000 race on the Gold Coast on Saturday.
Beriman will reunite with sizzling sprinter Party For Two for the first time on race day since contesting last year’s Group 1 Blue Diamond in Melbourne, when finishing less than 3½ lengths behind Little Brose.
Party For Two, who was originally passed in at the sales, went on a magic carpet ride after being virtually unknown outside of Queensland when then trained by one-time salesman Damien Batters.
After the Blue Diamond campaign, Party For Two switched stables and the filly has now had five runs for powerful Eagle Farm trainers Matt Hoysted and Steve O’Dea. One was a spectacular win of almost five lengths and, after winning a trial at Doomben by five lengths last month, Hoysted feels the speedy sprinter is well and truly on track for an assault on Saturday’s $500,000 QTIS Jewel 3YO (1200m) on the Gold Coast.
Beriman hasn’t ridden the filly in a race for more than a year, but she knows her like the back of her hand.
Beriman rode Party For Two her early in the filly’s career, including when Beriman booted home her first winner in almost three years after a temporary retirement from riding. Beriman, who had daughter Ella with her last Saturday as her secret weapon, will be looking to pinch the rich spoils of the Jewel.
“Nikita obviously had a great association with this filly earlier on in her career,” Hoysted said.
“She rode her in the recent trial and she knows her back to front.
“The Jewel is a race we wanted to target, the filly still holds residual fitness from last time she was at races. I don’t think she could be going any better, she probably looks to be the class horse in the Jewel.
“She is a quick, speedy filly so she often does trial well.
“But she was visually very impressive in the trial, so it’s hard not to get a little bit excited.”
All of Party For Two’s three career wins have come at nippy trials of 1050m or less – so ticking the 1200m box is one thing the filly must do to be there when the whips are cracking at the end of the Jewel.
She was last seen running over 1200m when not being at her best and finishing down the track in stakes company in the Listed Mode Plate at Doomben in December. But Hoysted feels first-up could be the key to her running a strong 1200m.
“She was explosive first-up for us last campaign, winning over the 1000m at Eagle Farm,” Hoysted said. “We then wanted to target a stakes race and give her an opportunity in the Mode, but unfortunately the second-up run two weeks before she had a tough run from a wide gate so we didn’t see the best of her in the Mode.
“The last little thing we need to see from her is to be running out a solid and strong 1200m.
“We feel doing it fresh is going to give her her best chance to do it.”
The Hoysted/O’Dea team also has Spin Doctor, who finished third in last year’s 2YO Jewel, joining Party For Two in contention for Saturday’s 3YO Jewel.
“He has come back really well, so we wanted to give him his opportunity to run for this sort of money,” Hoysted said. “The last run of his last campaign was a bit of a head-scratcher, so we pulled up straight away, he has had a jump out and a trial to get ready for this.”