Stephen Gray experienced plenty of highs with Silent Is Gold when training in Singapore, and he is excited to begin a new chapter with the gelding when he makes his New Zealand debut in the JR & N Berkett 1100 at Trentham on Saturday.
The six-year-old son of Star Turn won seven races in Singapore for Gray, up to Class 1, and was placed in the Singapore 3YO Sprint (1200m), Kranji Sprint (1200m) and Singapore 3YO Classic (1400m), and earned more than S$390,000 ($509,000) in prizemoney.
With the closure of racing in Singapore last year looming, Gray elected to return to New Zealand and was asked to take Silent Is Gold with him by owner Chin Hien Tan, who continues to race the gelding in partnership with Gray and his wife Bridget.
Silent Is Gold won a 1000m trial at Foxton last month and readied for his weekend assignment with an exhibition gallop at Otaki on Monday, and Gray is excited to see what his charge can do on raceday in New Zealand.
“It is quite sentimental,” said Gray, who trains in partnership with his father Kevin. “The owner was a lovely guy and a good owner of ours. He sent him over with us when we left. He wanted to send him to New Zealand and try him and give him a good home afterwards.
“We are really excited for the weekend, it’s cool to get him back from Singapore. He has trialled up well and he looks fantastic. He will probably improve with a run, and a first run at Trentham is never easy.
“He is not a Group One horse, he is a Group Three type of horse, he is pretty sharp and he tries hard. He was pretty nippy over there (Singapore), but you wouldn’t say he was the best sprinter in Singapore, but he was always thereabouts.
“We just want to win a race and have a bit of fun.”
Silent Is Gold will jump from barrier eight and will have the benefit of apprentice jockey Toni Davies’ three-kilogram claim, bringing his allocated weight down to 57kg.
“It is good to have young Toni on, she is a rider that has got a really good future,” Gray said. “We are a bit fortunate down our way, we have got two or three really good apprentice jockeys.”
Later on the card, former Hong Kong galloper Sword In Stone will have his first stakes test since returning to New Zealand when he contests Saturday’s Gr.3 Life Direct Trentham Stakes (2100m).
The nine-year-old gelding was initially purchased as a yearling by Gray and he is delighted to renew his association with the son of Redwood.
“Originally, Gary Carvill (bloodstock agent) and I bought him as a yearling and then I sold him to one of my best owners in Singapore,” Gray said.
“He was in pre-training at Lauren Brennan’s, Lauren did a lot of our pre-training for us in those days, and asked to give him a race because he showed a lot of potential.
“He won his second start and then he ran third in the Waikato Guineas (Gr.2, 2000m). We were going to have a go at the Derby (Gr.1, 2400m) but he didn’t make the field. Hong Kong came calling and he was sold for a big figure.”
Sword In Stone continued his racing career in Hong Kong where he raced as Columbus County for trainer Caspar Fownes.
He won two races in the competitive racing jurisdiction and was Group One performed, placing in the Gr.1 Champions & Chater Cup (2400m) and Gr.1 Hong Kong Vase (2400m).
Sword In Stone’s form had begun to wane in Hong Kong and Gray said it was perfect timing that he was making a return to New Zealand when Fownes was contemplating winding down the gelding’s racing career.
“I formed a friendship with Caspar Fownes and when Caspar knew we were coming back he asked if we wanted to take this horse back with us, and I said we would,” Gray said.
“The idea was to give him a few races and see how he went, because he is a natural stayer, and here we are. Even though he is a nine-year-old, he doesn’t know he is a nine-year-old.”
The return to New Zealand has rejuvenated the gelding, who made the perfect return when victorious at Otaki on Boxing Day.
“He won and it was a bit of coup,” said Gray, who also races the gelding with his wife. “He had a beautiful preparation and that is why I went to a mile first-up because he is a staying horse.
“He had three trials and had been in work a long time and you never know how they are going to go, but we just felt that in that class, with the light weight (54kg), and if he brought his Hong Kong form he would go well fresh, and he did.
“The family were there and a lot of my friends, they all had a bet and you would think that we won a Group One.”
Gray is now stepping up his charge to stakes level, with a possible view of heading towards the Gr.2 Barfoot & Thompson Auckland Cup (3200m) at Ellerslie on Champions Day in March.
“I am not sure about Saturday,” Gray said. “He is stepping up to a stronger field, but he is well weighted (55kg) and it will be interesting. The main thing is that he relaxes and has a good hit-out and we will see where we are at from there.
“He is nominated for the Auckland Cup and that is my main thinking.”
Completing the Grays’ representation at Trentham will be promising juvenile filly Hello My Dear, who will be out to try and gain a berth in the Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m) when she contests the Listed Star Group Wellesley Stakes (1100m).
Gray purchased the daughter of Hello Youmzain out of Haunui Farm’s 2024 New Zealand Bloodstock Book 2 Yearling Sale draft for $26,000, and she has placed in two of her three starts to date, including a runner-up effort over 1000m at Tauherenikau last week.
“She went really well the other day, she shows a lot of promise,” Gray said. “She is a tough filly and I was quite impressed with the way she was headed by a reasonably nice horse and fought back.
“She is in the Karaka Million. You have to go to the Wellesley to have a crack and if she can run well, why not?
“She is a nice, big, strong filly and everyone who rides her said she is going to get over ground.” – LOVERACING.NZ News Desk
