Racing invariably writes its own script, often deviating from the expected, and the story of Nikita Beriman being stood down for a twelve-day period under concussion protocols is another tale with an unusual twist.
Beriman was one of the riders involved in a four-horse fall at Ipswich last Thursday. She had, in fact, been coming home to win the race on Fast Fun when the incident occurred but, instead of coming back into the winners’ enclosure, Beriman found herself in the back of an ambulance on the way to Ipswich Hospital for further assessment after seemingly coming through the fall relatively unscathed.
She might have been denied the win there but, after having been cleared to ride at the next meeting, Beriman bounced back … and got her win … aboard the Sharryn Livingstone trained Chakra Boy in the fifth race at the Sunshine Coast on Saturday.
It seemed like it was back to normal business and all was well in the Beriman world, particularly when Beriman powered home again in the very next race after the Chakra Boy win … the featured Group 3 Winx Guineas … to earn an eye-catching second place aboard the Lindsay Gough trained Ramp It Up, a $31 outsider, and then followed that up with a third place finish in the Listed Caloundra Cup on the Tony Gollan trained Felix The Scat, another double figure odds chance at $17.
But there was more to play out with this story … and, instead of moving forward seamlessly, it suddenly took a step back.
It had been a good day for Beriman … until it wasn’t.
Some time after the last race on Saturday, Beriman became unwell and, according to the official steward’s report … ‘was exhibiting signs of delayed concussion stemming from a fall, which occurred at Ipswich 3/7/25. Stewards ordered that jockey Beriman be stood down from riding for a 12 day period and must provide a medical clearance prior to riding again.’
So, in essence, Beriman had come full circle in the forty-eight hour period from the fall to being stood down due to the delayed effects of the fall … a period which included a winner denied and a winner gained … and a script which had a mind of its own.
The way things unfolded might be a touch confusing in itself, but it falls into the ‘normal’ range of events in these circumstances, as explained on The Queensland Brain Institute website which states, ‘The symptoms of a severe concussion are immediate – dizziness, blurred vision, memory loss or even loss of consciousness, but for a mild concussion that doesn’t involve being knocked out, symptoms may not seem obvious until days later.’
Each concussion is different with a possible concern being that, on occasions, once symptoms of a concussion appear they can last for different periods of time … from short to prolonged.
Racing’s mandatory twelve day stand down period fits comfortably into the acknowledged ten-day window, in general, for anticipated full recovery from concussion.
Beriman will be further reassessed this week to ascertain her current status with regard to her injury.
