Jockey Joshua Parr has described Saturday’s Run To The Rose at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday as a “hot race” and is happy to be aboard the Group 1 Golden Rose Stakes 2017 favourite Menari in the latest lead-up.

Menari and Josh Parr, above, will team up again in the Run To The Rose at Rosehill. Photo by Steve Hart.

The Gerald Ryan-trained Snitzel colt Menari was last seen winning the Listed The Rosebud (1100m) on August 12 by over a length, shooting the galloper to the top of futures markets for the Group 1 $1 million Golden Rose Stakes (1400m) on September 23.

All-in Golden Rose Stakes odds online at Ladbrokes.com.au have Menari at $6 to hand Ryan with his first win in the Sydney Spring Racing Carnival showdown, and Parr is thrilled to be associated with the three-year-old this campaign.

“It’s very exciting to get on a horse that has above average potential and is going to line-up in Group 1 races and be a solid chance,” Parr told Racing NSW on Monday.

“There are jockeys that get these opportunities every Group 1 that comes around, but I’m pleased to be on this one.”

The past five Golden Rose Stakes winners all had their final lead-up in the traditional preparatory race, the Group 2 The Run To The Rose (1200m), with three doing the double in the last three years: Hallowed Crown (2014), Exosphere (2015) and Astern (2016).

That $200,000 sprint runs at Rosehill on Saturday and partners Menari against his major Golden Rose rival, the Peter & Paul Snowden-trained Pariah.

Redoute’s Choice colt Pariah occupies the second line of futures Golden Rose betting at $7 after the Blue Diamond Stakes runner-up resumed on August 26 winning Rosehill’s Group 3 San Domenico Stakes (1100m).

He and Menari came face to face at Rosehill last March on a Heavy (10) track when finishing 11th and fourth respectively behind the filly She Will Reign in the Group 1 $3.5 million Golden Slipper Stakes (1200m).

That was the second clash between Menari and Pariah following the Group 3 Canonbury Stakes (1100m) at Rosehill in late January where the former ran a luckless second as the beaten odds-on favourite.

Parr rides Menari for a third time on the weekend as the colt looks to complete the Rosebud – Run To The Rose Stakes double.

“I think he’s improved both with his fitness and, as risky as it is to say, he may well have improved ability wise,” Parr said.

“It’s going to be a hot race, it’s the main lead-up for the Golden Rose, but I feel I am on a very good horse.”

To back your favourite Golden Rose Stakes hopes at the best prices this weekend and in the futures Group 1 odds head to Ladbrokes.com.au today.