Smart colt Menari is still in contention for the Group 1 $3.5m Longines Golden Slipper (1200m) at Rosehill on March 18 despite suffering his first defeat at Rosehill last Saturday.
Pariah, above, scored a 1 length win over the unlucky Menari in the Canonbury Stakes at Rosehill. Photo by Steve Hart.
The Gerald Ryan trained Menari was sent out as the odds on $1.80 favourite for the Group 3 $150,000 Canonbury Stakes (1100m) but had no luck in the straight when jockey Josh Parr was unable to get out of a pocket until well into the straight.
Once into the clear at the 250m and balanced up, Menari made up a ton of ground but the post came up too quickly and he failed by a length to be runner up to the Peter and Paul Snowden trained Pariah ($5.50).
While Parr was desperately trying to find the way clear, Kerrin McEvoy had Pariah wound up down the middle of the track with an uninterrupted run to the line to record an impressive debut win.
It was plain for all to see that Menari was the unlucky runner in the Canonbury Stakes and Parr could offer no more explanation to connections.
“There is nothing I can say, you guys all saw what happened,” Parr said.
Menari is now into $13 alongside of Khan for the Golden Slipper at Ladbrokes.com.au behind the Magic Millions 2yo Classic winner Houtzen at $6 and Gary Portelli’s smart filly She Will Reign at $8.
Pariah lived up to his recent Rosehill barrier trial win with his Canonbury Stakes performance and co-trainer Peter Snowden will now concentrate on the Group 1 $1.5m Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield on February 25 with the Redoute’s Choice colt.
“There is a big chance we might send Pariah to Melbourne for the Blue Diamond Prelude,” Snowden said.
Snowden, who trains in partnership with his son Paul, expects Pariah to take a lot of improvement out of his first up win as do bookies at Ladbrokes.com.au who now have him marked as the equal favourite for the Blue Diamond Stakes with the Lindsay Park flyer Catchy at $8.
Catchy is undefeated from two race starts with a win at Moonee Valley over 1000m on December 9 followed by a win in an 1100m 2yo Plate at Caulfield on January 7.
Early Golden Slipper market order at Ladbrokes.com.au: $6 Houtzen, $8 She Will Reign, $13 Khan, Menari $15 Invincible Star, $17 Dinnigan, From Within, Tulip, Veranillo, $21 Condor Heroes, Jorda, Kanga’s Eye, $26 Exceeds, Lucky Louie, Luiza, Oscietra, Madeenaty, Serena Bay, Single Bullet, Vinland, $34 or more the rest.
