Gray starts two classy types in tomorrow’s feature in Miki’s Deal and Havtimewillfly.
Both 3-year-olds went to Addington last week and performed well below par in a sires’ stakes semifinal.
Neither horse was in camera shot as the winner crossed the line in a scene that had Gray scratching his head.
But when a clear excuse was uncovered for the performances, the trainer then got to work on getting the pair back on song for Diamonds Day.
‘‘There have been a few colds about so initially we were thinking they were crook.
‘‘They went too bad to be true at Addington so we knew something was up.
‘‘We found they both had tied up, which is a lot better than them both being crook.
‘‘It is far from ideal either, but we have put a bit of a plan in place to get them ready for this week.
‘‘So far they seem to be bouncing back pretty good.’’
For someone who has spent a lifetime in harness racing, Gray knows all too well that such scenarios can happen with any horse at any time.
And when it happened a week out from Southland’s signature harness racing meeting he took it in his stride.
‘‘It wasn’t ideal because they both had been working good and we were hoping to take them up north after that race.’’
‘‘But that’s racing. You have just got to do your best.’’
Miki’s Deal was a monstrous winner of the group 2 Caduceus Club at Alexandra Park three starts back.
A repeat of her performance when travelling wide throughout would undoubtedly make her a serious Southern Oaks threat.
Havtimewillfly also brings serious form to the feature event too, having smashed the Ascot Park allcomers’ 1700m record in her win in a heat of the Southern Oaks series.
Gray knows that if his fillies can front with their best efforts, they will make their presence felt.
‘‘We have been on the back foot but the week has gone well.’’
‘‘A lot will depend on their final work late in the week, but they won’t be there if we don’t think they can go good.’’
Bookmakers are clearly not reading too much into the Gray pair’s last-start defeats, opening Miki’s Deal and Havtimewillfly among the favourites for the group 2 race.
