There’s been Brett Scott and Karasi, Steve Pateman and Bahboy, Richie Cully and Wells and Clayton Douglas and Gold Medals.

All iconic partnerships in jumps racing over the past two decades.

Now, a new combination, relatively known to Australian racing fans, will attempt to etch their names into the history books when they combine at Warrnambool.

Rookie jockey Portia Matthews and hardy stayer Berry The Cash have dazzled racing fans in New Zealand over the past two seasons with seven wins together, including the 2023 and 2024 NZ Grand National Hurdles.

On Tuesday, their partnership will be tested in the Brierly Steeplechase, often referred to as the ‘Cox Plate’ of jumping in Australia.

For Matthews, who has spent the past fortnight in Warrnambool preparing for the carnival, she’s balancing excitement and nerves.

Most of all, she’s grateful.

“Mark (Oulaghan, trainer) has had a lot of faith in me all the way though and I’m pretty honoured to continue the association with him,” Matthews said.

“This is the part where a lot of trainers would go and put a more experienced jockey on.

“I haven’t held my raceday licence for three years, so I’m still pretty green, regardless of the success I’ve had and most of that success has been for Mark.

“We’ve done the work, so now it’s a case of going out there and seeing what we can do.

“Regardless of what happens, he’s such a cool animal and he’s been a favourite of mine since the start.

“He’s a real trier, so I’m sure I’ll be proud of him no matter what happens.”

Matthews’ association with Berry The Cash and, indeed, veteran trainer Mark Oulaghan, started by accident.

Another jockey was meant to ride the son of Jakklaberry in his first jumps trial. He didn’t show.

Matthews’ journey in racing was just starting, but she took the reins and hasn’t let go.

The 27-year-old has partnered Berry The Cash in all 11 of his hurdle starts, with their seven wins together making up almost a quarter of her career tally of 30 winners.

“Before I got my jumps licence, there was a point to point in Levin and another jockey didn’t turn up,” she said.

“Mark was looking for riders for the horses that the rider was meant to be on and that’s where I first met Mark.

“The horse he put me on was Berry The Cash and that was his first ever jumps trial.

“He obviously liked the way I rode enough and he gave me some of my first rides over jumps.

“I asked him for a full-time job and I ended up moving five hours away to work for him a week later.

“A lot of it has been coincidental and it’s amazing to think that the first horse I rode for him at the trials was Berry The Cash.” 

What makes Berry The Cash so good?

Matthews thinks it’s his staying prowess and his tenacity, with his best wins coming on heavy ground and over New Zealand’s longer 4200m trips in the National.

His rating of 139 has earned him the 71kg top weight in the Brierly and, if he backs up in the Grand Annual on Thursday as planned, he lugged 69kg.

Matthews concedes the weight is a challenge, while a relatively dry forecast means the ground is unlikely to be bottomless.

“For him, his ability to get through the ground is amazing and he just stays all day,” she said.

“If you watch him on debut, I think he won by 15 lengths and the races got abandoned soon after his race because it was knee deep mud.

“I had four sets of goggles on and used them all.

“When I got to the 800m mark everybody else was struggling and my horse was still traveling and when I got him into the open air, he took off and won convincingly.

“So for him at Warrnambool, the wetter the better and that will give us an advantage.

“His jumping has significantly improved with more experience and he’s a much stronger horse now too but he’s that old school stayer, that greyhound type so he probably doesn’t look like a lot of jumpers these days.”

Matthews has overseen Berry The Cash’s campaign since he arrived in Warrnambool in early April.

They teamed up for a quiet steeplechase trial, which was as much about familiarizing themselves with the unique cross-country circuit as it was for fitness.

The eight-year-old will school over fences on in the coming days ahead of the Brierly.

“He travelled well and he seems to have settled in well and got into a routine,” she said.

“He had a trial here and I was very happy with the way that he jumped, the way that he coped with the doubles and the cross-country element of it because he’s only ever jumped hurdles in New Zealand.

“We both learned a lot from it.

“We took him to the beach at the start of the week which was his first time at the beach but he’s very much a water horse, so he loved that.

“We’ll get him over another jump before Tuesday because he hasn’t schooled since the trials.”