Nikita Beriman aiming to become first mum to win a Group 1 in Blue Diamond
As she bids to become the first Aussie jockey mum to win a Group 1 Down Under, Nikita Beriman will have her adorable No.1 fan there to cheer her on in the Blue Diamond Stakes.
Two-year-old Ella can already ride horses and there will be no more excited person at Sandown on Saturday if her mum can score Group 1 glory on fairytale Queensland filly Party For Two.
"I am going to bring Ella down to Melbourne, because it will be extra special if I am in the mounting yard collecting the Blue Diamond trophy and she comes running over to give me a cuddle," Queenslander Beriman told News Corp.
"Opportunities like this don't come around all that often and I am nearly three months into my riding comeback.
"Riding in a Group 1 is the highest of highs isn't it?
"I feel like Ella has to come down and experience that with me. She doesn't care too much about watching me ride on the TV, she will be ‘Look there's Mummy'.
"But if she comes to the races, she is on the fence cheering for me and she loves it."
Jockey Nikita Beriman will have daughter Ella on track on Saturday cheering her on as she tries to create history in the Blue Diamond. Picture: Supplied by Nikita Beriman
Jamie Kah (nine Group 1 wins) heads the list of female Group 1-winning jockeys in Australia, with Beriman's great mate and Melbourne Cup winner Michelle Payne in second spot with five Group 1 wins.
There are other jockeys on the list who are now mums but weren't at the time of winning their Group 1s.
Beriman was the first female jockey to win a Group 1 in Victoria when she famously scored the 2007 Emirates Stakes on $101 roughie Tears I Cry in 2007.
She retired from racing due to injury and never thought she would return to riding after giving birth to her daughter.
Beriman moved from Victoria to Queensland's Sunshine Coast – where her mum and dad live – and started working for close friend and trainer Payne at her satellite stable in the Sunshine State.
Beriman made her race riding comeback not only because she missed the riding caper but also because she wanted to give Ella a better life.
Nikita Beriman winning a Group 1 on Tears I Cry in 2007.
"I was once a big advocate for once you've had kids, you should not ride," Beriman said.
"That was something I had to consider when I came back to riding, but riding again means I can give Ella the best possible lifestyle.
"I purchased a property and it needed some work done to it, I really wanted to put a swimming pool in.
"And I didn't have deep enough pockets.
"I am always going to put Ella first, she is always going to be my number one and my top priority.
"With my return to riding, I don't think you ever lose the love of the horse. I have a very competitive streak in me and I decided I wanted to be back out there and doing it.
"My weight was good and my body was good, so I thought I would give it a crack."
Jockey Nikita Beriman. Picture: Grant Peters-Trackside Photography
Juggling life as a mum and jockey is sometimes not easy but Beriman says it has given her a more rounded outlook on life.
Racing was once everything for Beriman.
It remains a big part of her life, but not nearly as important as her beautiful daughter.
"Ella makes me not live and breathe racing as I did prior to having her," Beriman said.
"The funny thing is that I initially said I didn't want my daughter to have anything to do with racing, she's wasn't going to have a saddle and I said would give her a tennis racquet before I give her a bridle.
"But she had other ideas and was able to ride by herself virtually unassisted at age one. She loves horses and they love her, she has got so much confidence."
Nikita Beriman with her daughter Ella. Picture: Racing Queensland
Party For Two, twice passed in at the sales and trained by relatively unknown Queenslander Damien Batters, has taken Beriman on a magic carpet ride to the Blue Diamond.
A pair of thumping wins in Queensland were one thing but then the filly proved she could mix it with the big guns when running a brave second in the Blue Diamond Prelude (fillies) in her first look at the Sandown track.
Bookies are keeping Party For Two safe as a $16 chance in the Blue Diamond and Beriman was buoyed when the filly drew barrier one.
As she returns to Melbourne, Beriman believes that 16 years after she won her first Group 1 she can do it again.
"When I returned to ride, I hadn't set myself any goals or ambitions," Beriman said.
"It was just that I enjoy riding, so I thought I would ride on weekends so I could spend the rest of the week with my daughter.
Nikita Beriman on Party For Two when the filly became her first Saturday city winner in almost three years. Picture: Grant Peters-Trackside Photography
"Prior to me retiring, all I wanted to do was win a Caulfield Cup and the year I retired I had a booking in the Caulfield Cup but I couldn't fulfil it because I had too many ongoing hip problems.
"That was a real dampener for me. Even though I felt like I had hung the boots up and that was it, it was a forced retirement.
"When I returned to riding I didn't set out to be a leading rider or ride in Group 1s, but I will happily take them and this one has just fallen in my lap.
"Damien has been pretty vocal about how every time this filly has stepped out, she has improved. Now she has adapted to going the Melbourne way of going, has now had a spin around Sandown and has drawn the poll (barrier one).
"If she has improved again, we will be right in the finish."
