Sport
7 August, 2024
Prominent owner hopes new boom horse is the next Wicked Wiki
Just Stop It has been impressive since arriving in the North West.
Peter Gray has probably owned more horses than anyone else in North West Queensland over the past decade, yet he’s never set foot in the region.
Based in Beaudesert, Gray has around 50 or 60 racehorses on his books at any given time.
Many end up in the stables of Julia Creek trainer Tanya Parry, who tries to eke out as much prizemoney as she can before they are sent back to Gray’s property.
“I buy a lot of mares because they are popular for embryo transplants,” he said.
“You can re-home almost every horse when they finish racing.”
Gray has used ex-racehorses in the film and television industry, sent some to children at pony clubs and used some mares as nannies for foals who need a mum due to the complications of the birth.
There is no secret that the North West racing circuit is about the last line for gallopers in Queensland.
If you can’t win in Mount Isa or in Julia Creek, there aren’t many places left to go.
But that doesn’t mean racing a horse in the Outback can’t turn a profit.
“Over the last 15 to 20 years I have probably had 600 or 700 winners and none of those horses have cost more than $2500,” he said.
“And they all come back here when they are finished racing and I find a new home for them.”
One of Gray’s most successful horses in the North West has been the Parry-trained Wicked Wiki.
The now 12-year-old gelding hadn’t won a race in 18 attempts before arriving at Julia Creek.
It took him two starts to break his maiden – at Cloncurry in 2017 – and he’s gone on to a career of 129 starts for 26 wins and 38 placings, earning almost a quarter of a million dollars in the process.
While the veteran galloper is still racing, he’s yet to win a race this year from nine starts.
However, Parry and Gray may have a suitable replacement in Just Stop It, who could be the region’s next boom horse.
Since arriving in the region, the six-year-old gelding has notched three wins and a second from his four starts and should be hard to beat at Thursday's Mount Isa TAB meeting, where he races in the Class 3 Plate (1000m), which is the last on the program.
“I was very confident that he would do well when I sent him out as a maiden,” Gray said.
“The other day when he won he went faster than the winner of the Open race.”
The owner said Just Stop It was originally meant to go to Hong Kong, but the prospective owners didn’t like the look of him so he stayed in Australia.
He had one run at Gatton and was beaten by 10 lengths before he was put on a truck to Julia Creek.
Parry has placed him perfectly since arriving and wins at Richmond, McKinlay and Mount Isa have him rising through the ranks.
There is a seven-race TAB card at Mount Isa’s Buchanan Park on Thursday for what is known as the Mailman Express meeting. After the races, there will be a live band, plus the sprint races on the track.