Josh Parr has put aside a frustrating winter carnival in Brisbane to play a starring role at Rosehill with a three-winner haul, including the feature McKell Cup aboard former European Elamaz.
Parr has been spending the bulk of his recent weekends in Queensland but after failing to get on the board there since his Gold Coast Guineas victory aboard Bosustow last month, he opted to snap up a strong book of rides in Sydney on Saturday.
That decision was vindicated despite two of his mounts being scratched with Parr’s six rides yielding a treble aboard Rolling Magic ($7) in the Midway Handicap (1300m), Thunderlips ($3.70) in the Schweppes Handicap (1500m) and Elamaz ($2.15 fav) in the Listed McKell Cup (2000m).
He also notched placings on Pure Alpha in the Asahi Super Dry Handicap (1800m) and Snack Bar in the final race.
“I have been going to Brisbane and it has been a whitewash to be honest,” Parr said.
“I had a bit of luck early with Bosustow and then it was downhill from there.
“It just slowed my momentum up so I was really happy to take a good book of rides here today and they have turned up and delivered for me.”
In an impressive training performance from Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, Elamaz was having his first start beyond 1600m on Saturday and his first run since September.
While Parr had hoped to find cover in the run, he instead found himself in the role of leader and said Elamaz did a terrific job to fend off the late bid of runner-up Belvedere Boys ($6.50) by a short head with Glory Daze ($5.50) best of the rest, another 1-1/2 lengths in arrears.
“Our plan wasn’t to lead the race. We were looking for cover to make it as soft as possible but that cover just wasn’t going to eventuate,” Parr said.
“I had to make a decision so I pressed to the front and trusted the stable and how well they had him and he did the rest.
“There was a period down the side where he had no clue where he was, leading the race here at Rosehill, and he’s done well to fight off every challenger and the one very late (Belvedere Boys), he held it to the line.”
Tulloch Lodge stable representative Neil Paine said they were confident Elamaz could make a winning Australian debut and the horse ticked an important box by stretching to 2000m.
“What do you say? Gai and Adrian do it all the time, especially with these horses from overseas,” Paine said.
“We seem to have luck with them first-up. We love them.”
Paine said the purpose of Elamaz making a McKell Cup appearance was to boost his rating ahead of the spring and now the horse had achieved that, he was likely to be given a short break before aiming at better races over the carnival.
