Bieri after maiden Townsville winner

By Glenn Davis

Former Mount Isa trainer Melissa Bieri is hopeful of a happy homecoming with her first Townsville winner on Tuesday.

Bieri was born in Townsville but has spent the past five years in the state’s North West with her partner, the dual licenced Jason Babarovich, after he was enticed by Mount Isa’s Jay Morris and Dan Ballard to work for the club.

The pair had good success at Mount Isa before returning to Townsville where they now run a 250-acre spelling property.

“It’s a big property just north of Townsville and it has 18 boxes and 30 covered spelling yards,” Bieri said.

“It also has a swimming pool, a walker, a 1000-metre training track and a trotting ring.”

Bieri doesn’t have any family racing background, but she’s been going to the races since she was a kid.

“My stepfather, Colin Robinson, used to be around the old school trainers in Townsville when I was growing up and I used to go to the races with him as a young kid,” Bieri said.

“I’ve only got three horses in work and Jason rides them all trackwork.”

Bieri and Babarovich plan to continue training in their own right but a future training partnership may not be far off.

“Jason wants to retire as a jockey at the end of the year and he’ll keep riding trackwork,” Bieri said.

“Eventually we’d like to get our own apprentice.

“I’ve looked at forming a training partnership before, but I took one look at the paperwork and gave it a miss.

“At this stage we plan to train separately but eventually we’ll train in a partnership together once we find an apprentice.”

Bieri has been training since the 2020-21 season and would love to win a race on her home track in Townsville for the first time.

She rates Inala Aticus in the Class 3 Handicap over 1200 metres at her best hope.

Inala Aticus is coming off a last start sixth at Home Hill last Tuesday.

“It’s a hard race but if he turns up on the day he’ll be competitive,” Bieri said.

“I’ve had a few issues with him and I’ve found he’s been sucking wind. 

"But, his last run was super as he’s a sway back and the saddle slipped on him last time.

“I’ve never trained a winner in Townsville and if he wins, you’ll hear me cheering in Brisbane.”

Babarovich is booked to ride all Bieri starters including Rockbarton Racer in the Benchmark 55 Handicap and hopefully The Eighth I Am if he secures a run in the Ratings Band 0 - 55 Handicap.