The John O’Shea-trained Berdibek has atoned for a string of luckless performances to claim the Listed Rowley Mile at Hawkesbury.
The grey finished runner-up in the McKell Cup on an unsuitable heavy track in June then was held up at the top of the straight before flashing home for fourth in the Grafton Cup last month.
O’Shea freshened him up for Thursday’s 1600m assignment and credited Brenton Avdulla for delivering an overdue win after he stalked James Mcdonald on favourite Kukeracha.
“A lot of credit must go to Brenton. He has always ridden the horse very well and today he executed well,” O’Shea told Sky Thoroughbred Central.
“We were hoping to be on the back of James (McDonald) in the run and that’s where we landed and when James made his way through (the field), Brenton got on his back and the rest is history.
“He’s been a deserved winner of a Listed race in Australia. To be fair, he’s been a little unlucky but he’s been a really enjoyable horse for his owners so I’m really happy for him.”
Avdulla followed McDonald into the race until the home turn then the pair split, with Avdulla sticking to the inside and McDonald switching the Queensland Derby winner to the centre of the track.
They came together to fight the race out with Berdibek ($4.60) edging clear to get the verdict by a neck over Kukeracha ($3.40 fav) with Surf Dancer ($9) best of the rest another 2-3/4 lengths away.
While O’Shea was full of praise for Avdulla, the jockey credited the trainer for ironing out Berdibek’s kinks, saying he was a difficult horse to deal with, let alone ride.
“He’s always been a talented horse but full credit to John and his team at home, he’s not easy. Even race day he is quite difficult,” Avdulla said.
“He’s not an easy horse to ride but we were able to get the job done today.”