Magic Millions 2015: Whitney Berry, widow of jockey Nathan, to make emotional appearance at Gold Coast race

WHITNEY Berry will on Saturday build up the courage to return to the place where her jockey husband Nathan rode to his greatest triumph.

Whitney’s courage for her soulmate

TEN months ago Nathan Berry was on top of the world.

The young Sydney jockey was riding a wave of success after notching his first major race win on the Gold Coast in January and he had just married the girl of his dreams.

His career was ready to take off but then tragedy struck.

The 23-year-old collapsed at trackwork during a stint riding in Singapore on March 18 and two weeks later he died in a Sydney hospital from a rare form of epilepsy.

His death sent shock waves through the racing community but no one felt it more than his wife Whitney Berry.

Today, Whitney will build up the courage to return to the place where Nathan experienced his greatest joy in the saddle when she presents the Nathan Berry Award to the winning jockey of the Magic Millions 2YO Classic at the Gold Coast Turf Club.

Nathan claimed his biggest race win aboard Unencumbered in the $2 million race last year and to add to the emotion today, Whitney’s father Glyn Schofield and Nathan’s identical twin brother Tommy Berry both have rides in the big race.

Whitney doesn’t know how she will cope today especially if her father or brother-in-law were to win the trophy named after her late husband.

After all, it’s been hard enough just returning to the Gold Coast this week.

But she will do the best she can just like she has been doing since Nathan’s death in April last year.

“I didn’t realise how emotional it would be coming here until I arrived (on Thursday),” Whitney said.

“Even when I was at the airport in Sydney I was grabbing a magazine and I saw the Best Bets there and his picture was on the front.

“To be honest I think I’m running on autopilot and it doesn’t seem real.

“But I’m just moving on the best way that I think he would want me to.

Jockey Nathan Berry celebrates after winning the 2014 Magic Millions 2YO Classic on the Gold Coast.

“He wouldn’t want me to back down and be lonely and give up and he would want me to live my life and to be happy.

“For me, what has given me the strength to carry on is him. By all means it hasn’t been my strength it has been his.”

Whitney misses everything about Nathan but it’s the little things she longs for the most.

The 30 phone calls Nathan used to make to her each day and the little notes he used to plant around the house that would make her smile every time.

“One morning I woke up and there was a note in the tea jar and there was a note in the sugar jar and there was a note on the milk and there was a note on the fridge and just everywhere I went to make a cup of tea, which he knew was my daily routine, he had put a little note,” Whitney, 23, recalled as she wiped back tears.

“The biggest challenge for me is getting through every day without him because we literally were inseparable and we did everything together.

“He used to call me minimum 30 times a day just for little things and he would just call to say “I love you” and then hang up.

“Even when he proposed to me, he proposed to me at the Oyster Box Hotel in Durban which is actually where my parents had their wedding reception and just the way he proposed was perfect.

“The whole room was full of rose petals and there was a table for two in front of the lighthouse and he always treated me like a princess.”

Whitney admits Nathan’s death still doesn’t feel real and perhaps it’s because she still feels him walking alongside her every day.

“I do generally feel he is with me all the time,” Whitney said.

“There are little signs and whenever I am driving in the car our wedding song, All Of Me by John Legend, is always playing.

“I also feel his presence around me and I know he would be looking down and he would be so proud.

“That is what helps me get through each day is knowing that he is with me and that he walks every step with me.”