GROUP 1 WINNING RIDER MAKES A RETURN AFTER MORE THAN THREE YEARS AWAY FROM RACE RIDING

By Graham Potter | Tuesday, November 22, 2022

It will forever remain a remarkable moment in racing history … the day when Tears I Cry won the 2007 Emirates Stakes at odds of 100-1.

It was a significant result in many ways as it was both trainer Ciaron Maher’s and jockey Nikita Beriman’s first Group 1 win … both at their first attempt at the elite level … with Beriman adding an additional notch to her belt by becoming the first female jockey to win a Group 1 in Victoria.

Following a series of injuries, Beriman retired from race riding in September 2019, but now, three years later, she has stepped back into the saddle, and she was clearly chuffed to have her first ride back at the Sunshine Coast at their metropolitan meeting last Saturday.

“It was a bit surreal putting the silks back on because I was adamant I was never going to ride again after having a child,” said Beriman, “but I started riding trackwork and my love for horses just grew and grew even more … and I just couldn’t stop. They say once it is in your blood, that’s it!

“I started riding work for Michelle (as Michelle Payne’s stable foreman when Payne established a satellite stable at the Sunshine Coast) and then I moved across to Nat McCall and things just escalated from there.

“I got my ticket back last Tuesday and I wasn’t planning on riding on Saturday, but I really like that horse that I got to ride, The Drover, so, yeah, I couldn’t say no.

‘Yes, I will be staying at the Sunshine Coast. I did move up here for Michelle originally. I just found I couldn’t be a mum and do that job … it was too hard for me to put all of my hours into that and miss my daughter growing up.

“Michelle and I are still great mates. She hasn’t got a big stable up here, but you’ll see her name pop up every now and again … and I’ll be riding for her, don’t worry.

“The new setup just works. My daughter was here on Saturday. It was her first day watching me ride, so yeah, it was good.”

At one stage in her first race back, it looked as if Beriman was going to make a dream return by saluting on The Drover after they led the field up into the home straight but, in the end, she had to settled for a close-up second place. Beriman then finished fourth on Perseids, another McCall trained runner, in her only other ride on the day.

*Beriman makes the trip to Doomben on Wednesday to ride the McCall trained first-timer Unconventionality. Beriman has already ridden Unconventionality in two trials, both of which the daughter of Love Conquers All won in comfortable fashion.

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