Cup jockey almost called it quits
If he was less stubborn, Cory Parish could easily be another tradie racing down to the local boozer for a pint and a punt at knock-off time to watch the Melbourne Cup today.
But instead, the 28-year-old Kiwi, who refused to give up on his dream, is one sleep away from fulfilling the most unlikely of lifelong ambitions when he rides Boom Time in the A$6.2 million race.
Late last month, Parish, who grew up in Warkworth but carved out his apprenticeship in the Waikato, went from a complete unknown to a headline act of the Melbourne spring carnival when he won the Caulfield Cup aboard 50-1 outsider Boom Time.
The defining moment of his career, which came five years to the day he moved across the Tasman, was a far cry from the rock bottom he hit in the months before he left New Zealand when he almost quit racing.
Parish has lost count of how many times he has been told he would not make it, been rejected for rides and even doubted himself.
‘‘You work so hard for so long and then you get turned back and you get to a point where you think is it actually worth working this hard? Is it actually doing anything or leading anywhere?
‘‘You start to doubt yourself and think maybe I’m not good enough? Maybe I can’t do this?’’
Before he left New Zealand, Parish was swimming in debt rather than success.
Many races in New Zealand were contested for as little as $5000 at the time. Unless you were amongst the top few jockeys in the country - which Parish was not the struggle was very real.
With his daughter 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.
The dream of making it as a jockey was all but over.
‘‘At that time I was thinking I’d given it a good crack and it’s time to try something else.’’
But the days on the building site gave Parish a new perspective on life.
‘‘To be honest it was probably the best thing I ever did. It made me realise this isn’t just a job, it is a passion. I love horses.’’
Hard work has never fazed Parish and his Caulfield Cup victory made him an instant poster boy for every battling young jockey. His message: never give up, things change quickly in racing.
Parish’s $98,000 pay cheque from his victory in the A$3.26 million Caulfield Cup was more than he earned in his 10 seasons of riding in New Zealand.
For the last six months, Parish and wife Alisha have been saving for a deposit to buy a house but thanks to Boom Time that is taken care of.
‘‘I lost a lot of money when I was riding in New Zealand and when I got to Australia I spent four years paying off all my debt.’’
The Kiwi kid who arrived in Australia with nothing five years ago has come a long way.
‘‘It was really hard, it was like I was starting as an apprentice again but I had a family to support.’’
But he was determined to make it work.
‘‘I knew I needed to change something. Something had to give.’’
Like every young apprentice, Parish dreamed of riding in a Melbourne Cup but he never really believed it would happen.
‘‘Now that dream is turning into reality, it’s quite unreal, to be honest.’’
But his humble beginnings are keeping him grounded ahead of Australasia’s most iconic race.
Parish, who has no family involvement in racing, will forever be a Caulfield Cupwinning jockey but that tag is taking some getting used to.
‘‘Just saying that is amazing, it’s unreal but you have to keep your head down and keep building from it.
‘‘Having to work so hard and not getting it on a platter makes me appreciate it, I’ll never get bigheaded.’’
Parish has put the pressure on himself to stay focused - no easy feat for a battling jockey who mostly rides out in the bush and has not even attended a Melbourne Cup day as a spectator.
The Melbourne Cup circus is ‘‘like nothing I’ve ever experienced before’’.
‘‘You know the carnivals are massive but to see it first-hand and have it happening around you is quite incredible. It’s an amazing thing to be apart of.’’
Of course, there have been the ‘‘wow I’m going to ride in the Melbourne Cup’’ moments.
‘‘You just make out like it’s another race somewhere in the bush.
‘‘I’m just going to ride to the best of my ability, not overthink it or over analyse it and what will be, will be.’’
Boom Time, trained at Flemington by the father and son pairing of David and Ben Hayes plus Tom Dabernig, is a $26 chance in the Melbourne Cup market.
Parish is aligned to their stable but until the Caulfield Cup victory he was mostly used as a trackwork rider who would ride around the smaller country meetings rather than the big days at Flemington, Caulfield or Moonee Valley.
Based in the small town of Seymour - around an hour and a quarters drive from Melbourne Parish drives 100,000km a year to and from country race meetings.
He only got the Caulfield Cup ride aboard Boom Time because David Hayes owns the horse. There was no need to convince outside owners to put an unknown Kiwi kid on their prized investment in one of Australia’s biggest races.
Parish says Hayes saw potential in him when others did not.
‘‘I wouldn’t be where I am without him, I’m so grateful for the opportunity he has given me.’’
Having his family at Flemington means as much to Parish as the race itself.
Proud parents Phil and Wendy Parish have travelled from New Zealand along with Parish’s New Zealand-based brother and two sisters from Perth.
Alisha and daughter Ruby (6) will also be there.
Ruby is still adjusting to her father’s new found fame.
‘‘She was just telling everyone that dad won a big race and he won lots of money but now she says dad won a Caulfield Cup. She goes and tells everyone.’’