No Gray-ter time of the year

Perhaps the only trainer who gets a buzz about October is Stephen Gray.

It is, however, not the 10th month of the Roman calendar he is looking forward to – certainly not since finding out his livelihood would be taken away when racing ends on Oct 5.

If anything, of the eight foreign trainers left at Kranji, if not all 18, Gray was probably the most knocked for six when the bombshell was dropped last June.

The 59-year-old New Zealander became the longest-serving expatriate trainer at Kranji after Zimbabwean-born Michael Clements ended his 25-year-old tenure in September.

After 24 years calling Singapore home, raising two Singaporean-born children (including James who served National Service) with wife Bridget, Gray has always been vocal about his love for Singapore and its racing.

The 182-year-old industry may have gone through its ups and downs, but not once did he think he would outlive it.

Unfortunately, he does now, even if he did not take it lying down.

He did spearhead the trainers’ fight to overturn the decision, but it has done little to stop the countdown towards that Oct 5 doomsday.

Ironically, it just so happens October is also the name of a three-year-old that still makes him get out of bed at 5am.

All the same, he does look after the other 23 (full house of 60 horses in his heyday), too, but Falcon Racing’s son of Ocean Park may just put that slightly bigger spring in his step.

“There are more pigeons than horses in my place these days,” said Gray who has clearly not lost his sense of humour.

“But this October is quite a nice horse. I spoke to Eric Koh, who manages the Thai owners, and told him he has a lot of upside.”

On breeding, Gray knew he could not expect results overnight.

“He’s by Ocean Park, he’ll get a mile. 1,200m was far too short for him, but he still did well,” said Gray, who has only one other three-year-old, the unraced Jo’s Legend.

“At his last start over 1,400m, he kept fighting on. I told Eric he can be a Guineas horse.”

Gray has trained a few handy three-year-olds, with Given Vision (2009) and Kelantan (2006) claiming the third leg of the 3YO series, even if it was not called the Singapore Guineas then.

The quality dipped a little thereafter, until another Falcon galloper, February, emerged as a dark horse in the 2023 Singapore Guineas – which was making its comeback after a two-year hiatus.

Craig Grylls was even flown in from New Zealand to ride the son of Sacred Falls. But they were well beaten by Coin Toss, who, incidentally, won his first Australian race in Canberra on March 10, ridden by former Kranji-based French jockey, Louis-Philippe Beuzelin.

Gray can only hope October will turn out better than February come April and May.

“I’ve trained a lot of good three-year-olds. October’s not a 1,200m horse, probably 1,600m to 2,000m,” said Gray.

“We’ve kept him ticking over since his maiden win.”

Lined up in a Restricted Maiden race over 1,400m on Jan 27, October fought tooth and nail under Ryan Curatolo to beat Fire by a head.

He will again bump into his runner-up and sixth-placed Lim’s Smythe (who has since opened his account) on the same terms (all on 55kg) in the $75,000 Novice (1,400m) on March 17, but will give 3kg to Supreme Liner, who ran fourth, less than one length astern.

Also in the mix are Bakeel and the well-bred Boardroom, two other three-year-olds plotting the same path as him, although Gray is unlikely to attempt all three features.

The first leg is the Group 3 Singapore Three-Year-Old Sprint (1,200m) on April 6, followed by the Group 2 Singapore Three-Year-Old Classic (1,400m) on April 27 and the Group 2 Singapore Guineas (1,600m) on May 18.

“The 1,200m leg is too sharp. It’s probably best to get him to the 1,400m after this race on Sunday,” said Gray, who has again booked Curatolo for the March 17 ride.

“He’s a big tall horse, he’ll be a good Guineas horse, even if there are so many good horses this year.

“Many horses are going to different centres, with racing closing. I told Eric let’s give him a chance here.

“We’ll look after him and keep him fresh. He may even become a Gold Cup horse with 50kg; it’s not impossible.”

The Group 1 100th Grand Singapore Gold Cup (2,000m) will be run on the last day of Singapore racing at Kranji. It will exceptionally carry a purse increased from $1 million to $1.38 million.

Gray won the time-honoured handicap feature once with Bahana in 2016.

manyan@sph.com.sg