North West newcomer takes off

By Jordan Gerrans

Prolific regional Queensland owner Peter Gray landed one of his biggest windfalls in the bush in recent years on the back of the Cloncurry club's decision to boost prize money at their TAB race day last Friday.

Gray races around 60 gallopers in the Sunshine State at any time, sending horses to Julia Creek trainer Tanya Parry as well as Ben Robinson and Taryn Churchill at Beaudesert.

Based at Beaudesert himself, the long-time owner produced one of his sharpest pieces of investment last week on the dirt on Cloncurry.

Gray had only recently snapped up mare Mina’s Legacy for $1,750 at an online auction after she was moved on from Kris Lees’ barn

In her first start under his ownership group and with Parry, the four-year-old daughter of Spill The Beans pocketed almost $28,000 by claiming the inaugural The Aviator in the North West.

“It is probably the best result we have had though, buying one and winning like this at her first start,” Gray said.

“We have had a couple of good days, there has been a few winners lately.”

The Aviator was a new race introduced by the Cloncurry and District Race Club for their Cup day program to boost nominations and interest in the meeting.

The club decided to boost the prize money for the event to $25,000 with the rest of the races on the card – outside of the Cup itself – being run for between $15,000 and $17,500.

Raced as a Class 1 Handicap over 1200 metres with QTIS cash on offer as well, the Cloncurry club were keen to attract bigger fields and trainers from different areas in Queensland through the extra money on offer in The Aviator.

The plan worked wonders as a big field was nominated and Parry’s newcomer Mina’s Legacy upset the lot with talented apprentice Tom Orr doing the steering.

“Over the years we’ve tried to add value to our races with extra prize money,” Cloncurry club president Luke Daniels said.

“We thought we’d try something a bit different making it a Class 1 race.”

Being a QTIS eligible mare, Mina’s Legacy collected an extra $12,750 on top of the original $15,000 stakes for the event.

Gray purchases many gallopers online before sending them to the bush and while they do not always produce results, he was glad to pull off a plan with immediate dividends this time around.

“I know what kind of horses to buy on the sales websites that can win out there and I know which horses cannot,” he said.

“The horse has to show that they can be competitive out there.

“The horse ticked all the boxes being QTIS and a mare.

“You can recognize what is required to win out at places like Cloncurry and Tanya and I discuss it all, sometimes she will bid on a horse and sometimes I will.

“I did not think that the horse was going to win because if I did, it would not have started at $51 if I thought it could.”

Gray can have between five and 20 gallopers in work with Parry at any time at Julia Creek.

One of Gray’s most successful horses in the North West has been the popular Wicked Wiki, who has 26 victories to his name.

It was an excellent few days for the Beaudesert owner as Robinson’s Bun In The Oven won on the Polytrack at the Gold Coast.

The five-year-old mare had been searching for her maiden victory on 15 occasions before she broke through on Saturday over 1050 metres.

Gray usually aims to purchase cheap gallopers online but notes that Bun In The Oven was one of his more expensive buys by his standards.

As well as racing his big team of gallopers around the state, Gray is also an avid rehomer of his horses as well as caring for retired racehorses on his own 40-acre property.

Mina’s Legacy will be chasing her second win for connections at Mount Isa Race Club on Monday in the QTIS Class 3 Plate over 1000 metres.