‘That’s our son’ say proud parents in TAB
A handful of Rotorua punters will never forget the day Cory Parish won the Caulfield Cup.
Those punters, who spent Saturday at their local TAB, had no idea about the piece of New Zealand racing history they were about to share with the couple on holiday from Warkworth, just north of Auckland, who came through the doors to watch the iconic $3.26 million race.
Phil and Wendy Parish did not make a fuss about who their son was, they just wanted to watch their boy ride in the biggest race of his life.
By the time Parish had ridden rank outsider Boom Time to one of the biggest boilovers in recent Caulfield Cup history, it was clear the Parish’s were no ordinary couple having a Saturday afternoon flutter.
‘‘When we said ‘that’s our son’ they were all pretty stunned,’’ Phil Parish said.
The proud parents will never forget their son’s first Group I victory and neither will those who were lucky enough to watch the race with them.
‘‘We’re very proud. Not so much because of the win, because he’s a decent guy, a real hard worker, he really deserves this,’’ Phil Parish said.
On Sunday, Boom Time’s one and a quarter length victory at odds between $41 and $51 to $1 – depending on where you placed your bet – was still sinking in.
Parish’s wife Alisha and daughter Ruby (6), were not at Caulfield either. They watched the race from their Seymour (Victoria) home because they were both sick.
The 28-year-old Kiwi, who moved to Victoria five years to the day before his Caulfield Cup heroics, earned himself a $98,000 pay cheque for just over two minutes and 27 seconds work but his father says he deserves it ‘‘more than most people could imagine’’.
‘‘They’ve been in Ozzie and they’ve been struggling to buy a house and with that win – his wife said to us last night they can buy a house now,’’ Phil Parish said.
Like most young jockeys trying to make it big, Parish has had plenty of long days at the office that have finished with him wondering how he is going to pay the bills at the end of the week. Just six years ago, he was struggling to make ends meet with racing in New Zealand.
With Ruby just a few months old, Parish moved his young family back to his parents home as he took a job at his father’s foundation and construction business.
It was hard, back-breaking work and ultimately it made the dream to make it as a jockey burn even stronger. A move across the Tasman to break into the ultracompetitive jockey scene was going to make or break Parish’s career.
Parish rides work for the Lindsay Park team of David and Ben Hayes and Tom Dabernig, who train Boom Time, five days a week but he rarely gets metropolitan rides for the elite stable.
‘‘He could have easily been riding out at Echuca or somewhere else out in the country,’’ his father said.
‘‘He does about 100,000km’s a year driving from race meeting to race meeting so to get the opportunity to ride in a race like this is just huge.’’
Parish has no family background in the sport.
‘‘We’ve got no history or contacts or stuff like that so it’s been pretty hard,’’ his father said.
On the strength of Saturday’s win, Boom Time has firmed from $101 to $26 in the Melbourne Cup market.
‘‘If he gets a ride in the Melbourne Cup we’re there,’’ Phil Parish said.
Parish was first discovered riding a mechanical horse at the field days when he was just 14. It was part of a New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing promotion and Parish immediately stood out from the other kids.
From that point on, the Mahurangi College student’s school holidays were spent at the Cambridge stable of Alan and Linda Jones.
‘‘As soon as he was 15 he had already organised to leave school and work towards becoming a jockey,’’ Phil Parish said.
Parish, who spent much of his riding days in New Zealand apprenticed to Jones, rode 136 winners before crossing the Tasman.
"This will open so many doors for him in the future,’’ Parish said.