By Chris Roots
Josh Parr wants to follow in the footsteps of Nash Rawiller and plans to use Menari as a springboard to take his career to the next level after a decade riding in Sydney.
Parr consistently has a winning strike rate of around 18 per cent throughout his career but has still to make his mark at the top of racing, with only two group 1 wins.
Just the beginning: Josh Parr rides Menari to win the Rosebud at Rosehill.Credit: AAP
He rode his 700th winner last month but has always been just off that top echelon of riders, which can only be put down to opportunity.
In Menari, favourite for Saturday's Run To The Rose at Rosehill and the Golden Rose, he might have the horse to lift his profile.
"I look at someone like Nash Rawille,r who was more mature and riding around Victoria before he found Elvstroem and from there his career just took off," Parr said. "He went to riding for Gai [Waterhouse] and now is in Hong Kong and is one of the best in the world.
"You just have to take these opportunities when they come along and Menari is the type of horse that could do a lot for me.
"I just have to ride him like I would anything else and he will do the job because he is that good."
Parr had some of the best grounding for a career in the saddle with Peter Snowden and Gai Waterhouse during his apprenticeship, but injury and mistimed suspensions have held him back.
Finally fit after hip surgery, he rode 98 winners in his best season last term and is starting to be a regular in group races.
His connection with Menari goes back to his first barrier trial last year and he has been excited by his improvement at every turn. Menari beat Invader, who went on to take the Sires Produce Stakes, at those first official two-year-old barrier trials.
"I can remember coming back to [trainer] Gerald [Ryan] and saying, 'gee, you might have got something here'," Parr said. "The great thing about him is with every single thing he has done since, he has taken another step, which is what you need to do to be that really good horse.
"The Rosebud [win] wasn't a surprise at all. I do his trackwork, but he did it against the bias and with 60.5 kilograms and just felt like a really strong colt with more to offer."
Menari has two wins and a second to Pariah in the Canonbury Stakes from his six starts, but his three runs in his autumn campaign as a two-year-old were all on wet tracks.
"He just doesn't like that soft ground, he needs it firmer and that's what he will get on Saturday," Parr said.
"He has been better again since that first-up effort, which seems to take on from what he has done when I have ridden him work."
Parr will look for the group 2 three-year-old double as he takes over on Gold Standard in the Stan Fox Stakes, another galloper the hard-working hoop has been on at trackwork, this time for the Waterhouse-Adrian Bott partnership.
The son of Sebring has only had the three runs for a second to Addictive Nature, a maiden win and a narrow second in the Up and Coming Stakes.
"He has been physically mature for all that time, it has just taken a bit of time for his head to catch up," Parr said. "There have been pieces of work he has put in that only the real top horses can do.
"He missed the start last start but the way he has worked since, he has put it together and I'm really looking forward to him as well."
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