The Mike Moroney-trained Bermadez (NZ) (Tavistock) landed a big payday for connections when taking the lion’s share of the A$500,000 Melbourne Cup Carnival Country Final (1600m) at Flemington on Thursday.
The five-year-old son of Tavistock was perfectly ridden by champion jockey Damien Oliver, coming from beyond midfield with a well-timed run to advance his career record to four wins from seven starts, downing Typhoon Harmony and front-runner Brazen Song.
Connections were rewarded for their patience with the career of the talented gelding halted through shoulder problems on a couple of occasions, with Moroney placing Bermadez to perfection to land the lucrative BenchMark 80 Handicap.
“He’s always looked a smart horse but he’s taken a long time,” Moroney said.
“He’s actually named after a horse that ran third in a Brisbane Cup for my vet Jim Marks who is in ill health at the moment.
“Paul and I spent a lot of time with him and he taught us about buying horses, etc. It’s great for him.
“When he won that maiden, I spoke to Olli (Damien Oliver) afterwards and he thought he was a Group horse. He’s had a lot of things go wrong with him. We gave him eight months in the paddock to get over it.
“The owners have been really patient and he’s starting to deliver now.
“By the autumn we might travel with him. Once he gets a bit further it might suit him.”
Winning jockey Damien Oliver has been in the saddle on six of the seven occasions Bermadez has raced and said the galloper was suited to a mile on a roomy track like Flemington.
“I thought there looked a bit of pace on paper, but it didn’t work out that way. They went steady. When I was wide with cover the leaders really gave a good kick on straightening and took a bit of catching and he was good late.
“He’s been a quirky horse but a typical Tavistock, he’s taken a bit of time to put it together.
“He’s always shown us nice potential but he’s just been a bit quirky and hasn’t put things together at times.
“Their patience has been rewarded now and he starting to put it all together.”
Bermadez was purchased out of Inglewood Stud’s 2018 New Zealand Bloodstock Book 1 Yearling Sale draft for $280,000 by Paul Moroney. Out of the Anabaa mare Pikea, herself a sister to Group Two winner Dances On Waves, it is the family of four-time Group One winner Preferment, who stands at Brighthill Farm.