Chris and Josh Barrett look to win father-son Group 1 in Memsie Stakes with Bandersnatch

Josh Barrett laughs when describing his father’s riding career which saw him lead the field in a Melbourne Cup … but it’s serious business when it comes to the pair’s quest for Group 1 glory as owners in the Memsie Stakes.

Bandersnatch is looking to cause a boilover in the Memsie Stakes. Picture: Jeremy Ng / Getty Images

Melbourne Cup jockey Chris Barrett didn’t win a Group 1 in the saddle, but he has helped dozens of others win them through his work as a jockey valet to the stars in Sydney.

As a part-owner of Bandersnatch, however, he gets an opportunity to land an elusive major in Saturday’s Group 1 Memsie Stakes (1400m) – and can do it in partnership with his son Josh, who jokes he isn’t quite sure what his father was thinking when he rode in the race that stops the nation in 1981 and 1984.

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“The old man talks about when he rode in the Melbourne Cup,” Josh Barrett laughs.

“They say you’re supposed to go for home at the clock tower at Flemington, the only problem is he went at the clock tower on the first lap.

“My uncle (1999 Melbourne Cup winner John Marshall) got it right, he timed his run at the 200m, I think the old man got a bit excited when he rode.”

Bandersnatch races in Barrett’s Calibre Racing colours and has been a stalwart for Team Hawkes, who have campaigned him since 2020.

Chris Barrett was valet for Hugh Bowman through the Winx era. Picture: Mark Evans

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Chris Barrett works as a jockey valet to the likes of James McDonald, Tommy Berry and Tyler Schiller, who are consistent Group 1 winners in Sydney, with his son keen to team up with his father to jag a win at the top level.

As a jockey, Barrett finished second in the 1988 Blue Diamond behind champion two-year-old Zeditave and again has two champions standing in his way to Group 1 glory in the form of Mr Brightside and Pride Of Jenni on Saturday.

Bandersnatch is $51 in betting, but beating the odds is nothing new for the $1.2m stakes winner.

“The horse does his job, he has been a really good purchase for us,” Josh said.

“He got really high in the ratings early on for us, there was three Listed races in the middle of winter on wet tracks and they smashed him, he was rated like a Group 1 horse after that.

"Bandersnatch is ripping clear for a Doncaster appointment!"

Bring on the Group 1 Doncaster.@[e-mail]/IA5GwMZFdr

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) March 25, 2023

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“He’s a good money spinner and we put (cousin) Taylor (Marshall) on him in the Doncaster last year, which was great for the family.

“The Hawkes boys just do their thing with him, he plods along.

“He finished fourth in the Group 1 Rupert Clarke and fifth in the All Aged, it is like if you put him in a good race, he will run up to the standard.

“He was only beaten a length-and-a-half first-up and could have maybe finished closer.

“There are a lot of good horses in the Memsie, I’m not saying he deserves a Group 1, but he deserves a good race because he very rarely turns in a bad run.”

Originally published as Chris and Josh Barrett look to win father-son Group 1 in Memsie Stakes with Bandersnatch