Kevin and Stephen Gray will have their first runners together in a quarter of a decade with two representatives at Friday’s Feilding meeting on the synthetic track at Awapuni.
The father and son duo will kick-start their new partnership with Clickety Click in the Fiber Fresh Active Handicap (1000m) and Oscar in the Hygain Tracktorque Maiden (1200m) but are more hopeful than confident on a dream start.
The former is a three-time winner who was a handy fifth when resuming at Otaki while Oscar will make his debut off the back of one trial.
Under their Copper Belt Lodge banner, the Grays were a major force to be reckoned with and sent out more than 400 winners before Stephen departed in 2000 for a successful solo career in Singapore.
He prepared 825 winners, including feature events such as the Singapore Derby (1800m), Singapore Gold Cup (2000m), Queen Elizabeth II Cup (1800m), Lion City Cup (1200m), Stewards’ Cup (1600m) and the Kranji Sprint (1200m).
Emperor Max won an edition of the Stewards’ Cup for Gray and subsequently took him to England where the prolific sprinter finished a respectable seventh of 20 in the Gr.1 Champions’ Sprint (1200m) at Ascot.
In the wake of the bombshell announcement of the Singapore industry shutting down, Gray and wife Bridget returned home earlier this year to settle in the Manawatu.
“There’s been a lot of change as you would expect and it’s good, we’re getting there slowly,” he said.
“I’ve brought my treadmills back and put some new paddocks in and we’re employing a few more staff.
“We’ve got some nice young horses around us, so we’ll see how it goes.
“We’ve got 30 in work with 15 two-year-olds and the response from owners has been very good.”
The team has also been bolstered with a handful of proven horses from overseas, including Gray’s multiple stakes winner Hard Too Think.
“Hard Too Think won the Derby and the Queen Elizabeth over there and (seven-time winner) Silent Is Gold is a pretty sharp sprinter, he’s more than capable,” he said.
“Hard Too Think lost a bit of form, but he had kissing spine and had surgery before he came back.
“There’s been a lot of interest and I had a few syndicates in Singapore for expats and I’m sure when we get going they’ll be involved as well.
“I’m quite keen to buy a few horses online to syndicate, there are good opportunities and I’ll also be buying yearlings.”
