Enter the Prince

By Glenn Davis

You have to have a line in the water to catch a fish. That’s a saying most believe in, including little known Doomben trainer Brent Gray.

The New-Zealand born trainer doesn’t have a high profile in Queensland like champion trainers Tony Gollan or Rob Heathcote but still has the same drive.

Gray, 61, worked for more than 30 years in underground coal mines in Australia and New Zealand before biting the bullet last year to take on the training caper full time.

“I was at Moranbah for the last few years and also at Narribri in NSW,” Gray said.

“I’ve worked in about seven different coal mines in Australia and in New Zealand.

“There were quite a few coal mines in New Zealand in the old days but there’s not many now.”

Gray took a risk during Covid outlaying $7,500 to buy Mississippi Prince at an online auction in Rockhampton.

The gamble paid off in spades with the five-year-old so far returning more than $340,000 in prize money.

Gray took another gamble in October when he sent Mississippi Prince to Sydney for the $1 million Five Diamonds Prelude over 1500 metres at Randwick.

“It was a race restricted to five-year-olds so I just thought I’d stick him in and see if he made the field which he did,” Gray said.

“Unfortunately, he didn’t get the barrier draw we wanted.”

Mississippi Prince didn’t get the cash in Sydney but produced a solid performance finishing ninth, just over three lengths from winner, Palmetto.

“He travelled down on the float okay but he didn’t settle in,” Gray said.

“He was off his feed and didn’t eat or drink and was all hyped up.”

Gray’s interstate venture with Mississippi Prince was the first time he had stepped foot on a Sydney racetrack since he was a young man playing rugby.

“I didn’t know much about racing in my rugby days but I was part of a rugby team in New Zealand which came across to Australia for an end of season trip,” he said.

“We went to the races in Sydney one day but I still don’t remember the name of the track we went to but I do recall Kingstown Town won that day.”

Gray was a keen sportsman in his younger days but never reached any great heights.

“I played a bit of rugby (union) and played a bit of league for Blackwater when I was in central Queensland,” he said.

“I like all sports and played a bit of golf and tennis but I never got to any great level.”

Gray hails from Reefton on New Zealand’s South Island where he took out a trainer’s licence.

“I had my first runner in about 1989 which won at a place called Greymouth on the west coast of the South Island,” Gray said.

“I’m only really a hobby trainer and only ever had one or two in work in those days.

“I took a horse called Pinstripe to Melbourne in 2003.

“He never won a race there but he placed on all the city tracks before he broke down.

“I had another horse that came over with him called Watch Yerback, which won the Group 3 Standish Handicap at Caulfield.

“The Standish is normally at Flemington but they were doing up the track then so it was moved to Caulfield on New Year’s Day.

“He was a handy horse who won at Flemington in 2006 on the last day of the Cup carnival.”

Gray is married with two children and has racing flowing through his veins.

His late father Ken Gray owned many horses and was heavily involved as president of the Reefton Jockey Club.

“Dad died a couple of years ago and was a life member of Reefton Jockey Club where I first started training,” he said.

Gray trains at Doomben racecourse and has only two horses in work from boxes he rents from another New Zealand expat, trainer Bruce Brown.

Brown is well known on Brisbane racetracks and his claim to fame was winning the world’s richest two-year-old race, the Golden Slipper Stakes at Rosehill with Calaway Gal in 2002.

Mississippi Prince had his first start for Gray finishing a moderate sixth at Ipswich in May 2021, before a float accident saw him transferred briefly to Sunshine Coast trainer Paul “Jack” Duncan.

“I was floating him to the Sunshine Coast for a barrier trial when he got his leg caught over the partition, so rather than risk floating him everywhere I left him with Paul for a while,” he said.

“Unfortunately, he picked up Ross River fever later on but, once he recovered, I sent him to Rockhampton with Kerrod Smyth as a three-year-old to chase some of the QTIS prize money up there.

“Kerrod did a great job winning three of his four races while he was with him and when he came back to me as a four-year-old he won his first two starts at the Gold Coast last year and a third at Doomben in April this year.”

Mississippi Prince went winless at his next three metropolitan starts before returning to winning form in a Benchmark race at Ipswich in mid-June.

He was then a close fourth to the Tony and Maddy Sears-trained Baanone in a 1600m Benchmark race at Doomben in July before placing at his first attempt beyond 1600m in a 2020m Benchmark race at Doomben.

Gray’s confidence to head interstate grew after Mississippi Prince was freshened to finish second to Sydney sprinter Steely in a 1400m Open sprint at Eagle Farm in October.

“I was happy with that run when he got a nice trip,” he said.

“The winner went passed him like he wasn’t there but he fought back and was in front soon past the post.

“The winner came down the outside with a lot of momentum but once he saw him coming he finished the race off strongly and was in front of him a few strides past the post.”

Mississippi Prince returned home immediately after his Sydney trip leaving Gray to decide his immediate future.

“I had considered taking him to Melbourne for the Cranbourne Cup last month but I ruled that out after the way he travelled to Sydney,” Gray said.

Freshened up for four weeks, Mississippi Prince lined up for last month’s Mooloolaba Cup on the Sunshine Coast, finishing seventh behind winner Dune Forty Five.

Despite that and the Sydney performance, Gray is still hopeful of hooking a big race with Mississippi Prince.