Racing: Pateman off to US

A chance conversation with a well-travelled New Zealander has led to top Victorian jumps jockey Steven Pateman getting a chance to make a splash in the United States.

Pateman will fly to New York on Monday to test himself against the best jumps riders in the US with rides at Saratoga on Wednesday and Thursday next week.

Kiwi jockey Craig Thornton secured the opportunity for Pateman through contacts gained during his successful stint in New York.

Pateman said the idea came up when he chatted to Thornton, in Australia recently to partner New Zealand hurdler Indikator.

"I just said I'd be keen to go but never really pushed it but Craig organised it for me so it's great," Pateman said.

"He was the leading jockey over there when he rode there."

Thornton rode former star Australian jumper Zabenz to win the New York Turf Writers' Steeplechase for Caulfield horseman Robert Smerdon in 2002.

Pateman hopes to get a ride in the 2014 edition of the US$150,000 event, which will be run on August 21.

He said his first priority was to guide his two confirmed mounts around the tight Saratoga inside turf course next week.

"My rides next week are in $70,000 races and I'm told both are chances."

Pateman's first trip to the US will serve as an audition in which he hopes to secure a short-term deal to ride in New York at the end of the Australian jumps season.

- AAP