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By Greg Prichard

If multiple Group One-winning jockey Josh Parr doesn’t end up getting a ride in The Kosciuszko he’ll cheer Far Too Easy for his great mate Grant Binns instead.

Binns used his TAB account to buy $750 worth of tickets in the slot draw for the $2 million race after he and 14 other members of a syndicate had tossed in $50 each.

During the frantic initial period after the draw on September 8, when slot-holders were making rapid-fire calls to trainers in a bid to secure one of the favourites, Binns rang Parr to seek his opinion.

Josh Parr (left) and Grant Binns at a celebrity golf tournament.

“Josh and I have known each other since we were kids,” Binns said.

“We went to school together and he was one of the groomsmen at my wedding. Now our kids go to school together.

“I didn’t get Josh straight away when I rang him and things happened so quickly that when he rang back soon after I told him we’d got Far Too Easy,” Binns said.

“He said ‘geez, you’ve done well’.”

Far Too Easy is the $4.50 second favourite with TAB Fixed Odds for the 1200-metre event at Randwick on October 14. The five-year-old gelding, trained by David McColm at Murwillumbah, finished runner-up to Front Page in last year’s The Kosciuszko.

Parr said he was delighted for his mate, to whom he paid tribute for being the sort of friend you could rely on no matter what.

“Yeah, bloody oath,” Parr said. “It’s amazing, isn’t it. I’m so happy for him, the boys have got a live chance in the race.

“Grant sent me footage of Far Too Easy’s latest barrier trial at Beaudesert and the horse ran really well. He’s very excited about it all.

“It’s so good to see him get this opportunity because he’s a great guy. You’d go a long way to meet a better person. The amount of times I’ve reached out to him for different reasons for help and he’s been there immediately, he’s the definition of a really good, solid mate.”

Binns, from the Central Coast, said he was mowing a lawn as part of his lawn maintenance business when he received word one of the syndicate’s tickets had come up trumps.

“Scott Kennedy from Racing NSW rang me to say we had a slot, so we got into gear pretty quickly,” he said.

“We tried to get Opal Ridge, but it had gone straight away and I was ringing the boys saying ‘hurry up, we need to decide on another horse to chase’. Then Tony Taylor, one of the syndicate members, rang David McColm and was able to do a deal on Far Too Easy.

“Tony’s great, he organises everything with all of our syndicates, whether it’s something like this, or Lotto tickets, or punters’ clubs. We’re thrilled with how it all worked out.”

Binns said the syndicate members were part of an even bigger group of friends who loved to have a beer and a bet together to relax.

“Half of us used to own the horse Frozen Rope, which was trained by Adam Duggan,” he said. “We used to celebrate as enthusiastically as the Mr Brightside guys when it won. A few of us are part-owners of horses.

“We’ve all known each other for 20-odd years. Mates from work or just around the place. All different ages, 30-somethings to 50-year-olds. All living on the Central Coast.

“We formed a syndicate for the Kosciuszko once before and had no luck. It’s just luck, isn’t it, whether you get a slot or not, and we got lucky this time.

“We’re all going to Randwick on Kosciuszko day. We’ve got a bus booked. We’re taking our partners, so there’s about 30 of us going.

“If we win we’ll celebrate big-time, but we’ll have a great time no matter what. We always do when we all get together.”

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