By Craig Kerry
Josh Parr has taken encouragement from a controlled trackwork ride on lively two-year-old Gambler in preparation for the group 2 Silver Slipper Stakes (1100m) at Rosehill on Saturday.
The Peter Snowden-trained Gambler faded to finish sixth at his only start, in the Maribyrnong Trial Stakes at Flemington (1000m) in October, and has since been gelded. The son of Capitalist returned with front-running trial wins over 790 and 740 metres, where he put six and three lengths on his rivals.
Josh Parr.Credit: Getty Images
Parr had his first sit on the speedy youngster on Tuesday at Randwick, and he walked away impressed.
“I was able to sit him off a workmate, and he was well and truly controllable,” Parr said. “Then his last two furlongs were nice and fast. He’s definitely got the speed to race in a forward position there tomorrow. It’s just all about harnessing that energy and getting him to control it correctly.
“That’s the key. He’d have to be able to race forward and absorb pressure to hold off Bel Merci and possibly Wodeton at the end.”
Gambler has gate four in the key Golden Slipper lead-in and was a $12 Sportsbet chance.
Also on Tuesday, Parr squeezed in trackwork at Rosehill on Public Attention, which is in the group 2 Hobartville Stakes (1400m). The Written Tycoon colt was an impressive winner of the Eskimo Prince Stakes first-up for jockey Chad Schofield, who is suspended.
Parr has picked up the ride on the $4.20 chance from trainers Mick Price and Michael Kent jnr, and he was confident Public Attention could get forward from the outside gate.
“He showed his ability in the Eskimo Prince at 1200 and was strong at the back end of that, which usually suggests that 1400 will be OK. And his work has been really nice since,” he said.
“I rode him Tuesday morning on the course proper at Rosehill, so he’s had a look at the track. He didn’t work with his blinkers on, so we only went steady, but he’s in really good shape.
“He showed speed at a shorter distance, which gives me confidence he can find a position further forward than midfield. It’s a typical Rosehill set-up with the rail out, so it’s very advantageous to be able to get forward.”
His other ride in the features was Asterix ($21) for Chris Waller in the Parramatta Cup.
“His best form is at a further trip than tomorrow’s, but in saying that, he looked to work through the line quite well at Randwick last start,” he said.
“I take confidence that he was strong at the end of that race and his staying ability will kick in at the latter stages.”
