Gray stable in form for Winton
Brett Gray’s eight runners at the Winton meeting today are all capable of finishing in the money.
It will be the biggest team he has taken to the races in 16 years of holding a trainer’s licence.
Punters will have to wait until the last race to see Gray’s main hope, Jimmy Mack.
The 5-year-old gelding won first up at Ascot Park on January 28 and backed up with a fast-finishing second at Gore last Sunday.
‘‘I thought it was a super run . . . he kept finding the line,’’ Gray said.
Jimmy Mack should be prominent from barrier two in the Southland Master Plumbers Association Pace.
Gray predicts a bright future for Jaccka Josh who steps out in the Peter Cocks For Dairy Cylinders Mobile Trot.
Jaccka Josh ran an eyecatching second in his debut at Gore. He made a mistake early by pacing and had to be checked into the trotting gait. The mobile start at Winton should help Jaccka Josh begin better.
‘‘He’s far from the finished product but I really like him,’’ Gray said.
The horseman reckoned Oamaru-trained Zoey’s Gift would be Jaccka Josh’s main danger.
Gray’s other runners for the Winton meeting are Northview Betta, President Roydon, The High Roller, Pavarotti, Machjagger and Mighty Flying Deal.
Jimmy Mack’s owners, Merv and Meg Butterworth, of Melbourne, also race Pavarotti, President Roydon and Northview Betta.
Another horse owned by the Butterworths, G I Joe, is in training with Gray.
G I Joe, winner of five of 12 starts, has done all of his racing for Christchurch trainers Mark Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen. He will return to them after a start or two from Gray’s stable.
Motu Meteor, who was jogged up by Gray last winter, is starting in tonight’s New South Wales Derby in Sydney for the Butterworths, Purdon and Rasmussen.
Meanwhile, Gore trotter Golden Gate is likely to compete at the Gore workouts tomorrow as a lead into the Wyndham meeting next Saturday.
Owner-trainer John Ryan is hoping to start Golden Gate in the Group III Southern Lights Trot at Ascot Park on March 11.
She has not raced since returning from an Auckland campaign in December. Golden Gate was unplaced in two starts and suffered badly from seasonal problems on the trip.