Nikita Beriman turns fortunes around at Sunshine Coast with victory on Shalaa’s Moment in Swiss Ace Plate
After losing her ride in the Melbourne Cup, Nikita Beriman was having a tough day at her adopted home track until she struck in the feature Swiss Ace Plate at the Sunshine Coast.
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Victorian vets robbed Nikita Beriman of a Melbourne Cup ride and the jockey was left wondering when her luck would change after a dirty day at the Sunshine Coast on Saturday before striking gold aboard Shalaa’s Moment in the Swiss Ace Plate.
Beriman booked flights and was prepared to ride Mission Of Love in the Melbourne Cup earlier this month before she was scratched.
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Enduring a tough day on her adopted home track of the Sunshine Coast on Saturday, Beriman turned her fortunes around with a textbook steer to get Shalaa’s Moment home for trainer Matt Hoysted.
Hoysted quipped Beriman owed him a good ride in the race after two of his earlier chances went down, and she was able to deliver in spades when she ducked up the inside to sail past the on-speed Golden Boom and hold off plunge horse Cifrado to grab the $125,000 prize.
“I was having a pretty ordinary day, we made up for it there,” Beriman said of the $5 chance.
“I was pretty set that I was going to win that race to make up for the really terrible parts.”
The Swiss Ace Plate heads to @hoystedracing thanks to Shalaa's Moment who holds off a fast-finishing Cifrado. @SCTurfClubpic.twitter.com/Qz4MQ0zOaa
— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) November 16, 2024
It continued a hot run of form for Hoysted follow Steve O’Dea’s departure from the training ranks earlier this year.
“She (Beriman) owed us a good one there and she produced,” Hoysted said.
“This mare has been airborne and she has been able to improve with age, she was pretty unlucky her last two runs at Eagle Farm when not much went right.
“She has a great fresh record and she was on a track that really suited her.
“She was a highly strung filly, we got her second hand off Joe Rapisarda, who is a big supporter of the stable.
“She is learning to relax more and conserve her energy.”
Meanwhile, leading jockey Jimmy Orman returned from a successful stint in Dubai in fashion, landing an early Sunshine Coast double.
Nicknamed “Jebel Ali Jim” for his feats in the region, Orman proved he was a force to be reckoned with again when teaming up with former Gold Coast trainer Michael Costa for the second year running.
“We went to Dubai for a little working holiday for 16 days to link up with Michael Costa again, who is going great,” Orman said.
“We had a couple (four) of winners together in that time.
“We ended up stopping off at Tokyo on the way home with the family, that was good fun.”
Orman continued his unbeaten run on winning machine I Am Artie, who notched up his sixth winner of the prep in the Benchmark 85 Handicap (1200m).
“It is good to be back and back on this horse, he knows where the winning post is,” he said.
Originally published as Nikita Beriman turns fortunes around at Sunshine Coast with victory on Shalaa’s Moment in Swiss Ace Plate
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