No-one wanted Party For Two because she was deemed to be too small, but she will go into Saturday’s $2 million Blue Diamond Stakes at Sandown as a decent $17 winning chance.
She will also have the benefit of starting from barrier one with 55kg on her back.
Her runner-up result in the Blue Diamond Prelude (Fillies) over 1100m – where she finished a gallant length behind Godolphin runner Exploring – proved she deserves a shot in the Group 1 sprint this weekend.
Indeed, Caloundra trainer Damien Batters could look like a genius if Party For Two again competes well in the 1200m feature.
“Party For Two was passed in at Magic Millions and the Capricornia Yearling Sale up at Rocky,” the young conditioner told Ladbrokes.com.au.
“No-one wanted her because she was small. So she came to me as this little two-year-old.
“Just the more we worked her and the closer she got to race we could start to see that she had something there.”
2023 Blue Diamond Prelude (Fillies) | Party For Two (2nd)
After a dominant win at maiden level at Sunshine Coast Turf Club on New Year’s Day, three weeks later Nikita Beriman again combined with Party For Two to produce a stunning 2 ½-length victory in a $75,000 2YO Handicap over 1050m at Doomben.
The victory proved to Batters that his filly might just be up to the standard of elite young company down south.
“After Doomben with a decent-quality field with some horses that have been proven in races already – to do what she did that day in a good time and win by a couple of lengths – she forced us to start thinking ‘what’s next?’” he said.
“The opportunity came about to go to the Blue Diamond Stakes. We do believe she’s a chance and we’re not going to leave any stone unturned, that’s for sure.”
READ: 2023 Blue Diamond Stakes preview & betting tips
Batters is under no illusions about the challenge Party For Two faces this weekend against some of the best two-year-olds in the country.
But he also will not be overawed by the occasion.
“I’ve only had about 300 starts as a trainer,” he said.
“For a trainer who hasn’t been training for a long time out of a little community like the Sunshine Coast – to be going to the pinnacle of racing in Victoria is crazy.
“To think that the big stables of (Chris) Waller, Ciaron Maher and David Eustace – to be taking on the likes of the big trainers down there is just surreal.
“And it’s a challenge that myself and Party For Two are more than willing to take up.
“Just because we’re going to the elite level we haven’t changed anything with Party For Two.
“Her first Group 1 would be my first Group 1.”
And how would Batters react if his runner was to pull off a minor miracle and give him his first Group 1 title?
“I’d probably be crying and carrying on like a pork chop,” he said.
“My dream was just to have a winner.
“So to leave Sunshine Coast and to win a Group 1 – it’d be humbling, it’d be amazing and it’d be just a great feat for everyone involved in such a small stable.”
Beriman knows the feeling of being a fairytale winner at Group 1 level.
The jockey’s only victory at the top rung of racing so far came aboard Tears I Cry – a $101 chance – in the 2007 Emirates Stakes.
“It was a moment that I wish I could relive because I was very young and didn’t understand how hard it was to win a Group 1, or even to get rides in those types of races,” she said.
The 37-year-old hoop was stunned after her first ride on Party For Two when she won by a whopping 7 ½ lengths in a maiden over 1000m at the Sunshine Coast on January 1.
“She literally went out there and blew them away,” she said.
“I didn’t know that I’d won by 7 ½ at that time.
“But it was a very quick time, especially for a two-year-old.”
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