Jamie Gray is a pretty darned good song writer and singer. But, foremost, he’s an outstanding horseman and individual.

Gray was named Alberta’s winner of the first annual Keith Clark Horsemanship Award at the recent Alberta Standardbred Horseman’s Association Awards night.

“I was totally surprised,” said Gray.

“Pleasantly surprised,” he said of the award named after Clark, who died last December and was a true legend of harness racing with 6,620 driving wins, 4,302 training wins and was named Alberta’s Horseman of the Year 14 times.

Clark was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2009.

“To win an award named after Clark is very special. And to have so many of Clark’s family attend was wonderful,” said Gray.

“There’s a lot of criteria that goes into this award,” said Gray.

Is there ever.

Nancy Retzlaff, ASHA’s executive director, said ASHA members submitted nominees and the top three finalists were chosen by a panel.

“The horsemanship award is very much akin to the O’Brien Horsemanship Award and is focused on trainers and primarily their success with young horses,” said Retzlaff. “Integrity honesty, work ethic, leadership and commitment to horse racing in Alberta are also considerations.”

Gray prevailed over two other well-deserving individuals: Rod Starkewski and Nathan Sobey.

“Described by his peers as a tireless, hands-on trainer, Jamie drives, trains, catch-drives, does his own shoeing and is intimately involved in the day-to-day operations of his stable,” said Jocelyn Giesbrecht, ASHA’s marketing and special events coordinator.

“Jamie is known for his honesty, work ethic and unwavering commitment to the development of young racehorses. He has built a reputation for shaping future champions, none more impressive than the sensational 2-year-old Custard Dolce a two-time ASHA award winner. The two-year-old filly had a flawless 2024 season with eight wins out of eight stake race starts including a track-record triumph.

“Jamie also guided YYC on the Horizon to a Super Final runner-up finish, securing a nomination for top three-year-old Alberta-sired colt.

“Jamie’s impact extends beyond his own stable to Alberta’s horse racing industry through countless hours spent volunteering his time and giving back to the sport and community.”

Of all the many horses Gray has driven and trained he believes Custard Dolce is going to be the best even though, in 2018, he had Exit Smiling, who was named Alberta’s Champion Three Year Old Alberta Sired Colt as well as the prestigious title of Horse of the Year.

Trained and driven by Gray, who also won Trainer of the Year under 200 starts and Horseperson of the year, Exit Smiling won 23 of 141 races for earnings of $237,867.

“Custard Dolce won eight in a row. All stakes,” said Gray, 63, who was born in Saskatchewan - just outside of Saskatoon where his dad, Allan, had a farm.

“She won $140,000.

“She set a two-year-old track record (1:54 at Calgary’s Century Downs winning the $70,000 ASHA Filly Pace by seven lengths).

“No two-year-old in Alberta has ever done that. Certainly not a filly.”

Gray picked out the daughter of Custard The Dragon out of Blue Star West, who paced in 1:54, by champion As Promised, at the Alberta Yearling Sale when the hammer went down at $26,500. He then sold shares in her to Jackson Wittup, Max Gibb and Derek Wilson.

“She was the only yearling I bought at the sale,” said Gray, who was also the breeder.

“I said ‘Man this is a good looking filly. Nice and tall. Long legged. I liked her right away.”

Custard Dolce was fourth in her first start coming home in :57 2/5. Then she went on a tear winning the Emerald Stake, the Starlet, the ASHA Filly Pace elimination, the ASHA Filly Pace final, the Brad Gunn, the Stardust and then the $80,000 Super Final by five and a half lengths to end last year’s schedule.

“All her races were really good but the track record was most impressive,” he said of the overpowering performance when she swooped to the lead in the backstretch and never looked back.

“Each start is a little better but the 1:54 mile was, of course, really special,” said Gray.

Voted the two-year-old Filly Champion in a landslide, Custard Dolce is back in training being readied for a stake in mid May.

“That was the sixth time in the last seven years that I’ve has had a champion in my barn.

“I’m pretty proud of that," said Gray. “I’ve been very lucky.”

Going young, Custard Dolce, now three, is Gray’s oldest horse in his eight-horse barn.

“I have two three-year-olds and six two-year-olds.

“That’s where the money is. Stakes money. That’s where the real money is.

“The older I got the more I’ve wanted to concentrate on the breeding part of the business - having broodmares and selling their foals. If you happen to get a good one that’s where you make the money.”

Gray’s song-writing is personal. Often using fellow horseman Joe Ratchford, who plays bass, one of the songs he wrote goes like this:

“I’m still writing some songs. But it takes a lot of time. Especially with all the babies I have,” said Gray.

Married to Shelley - “She’s the backbone” - for 35 years, Jamie met Shelley in Saskatoon where she was driving the starting gate.

She still calls the charts for standardbred racing something she has done for about 20 years.

They have two daughters - Riley and Brie.

“I started writing and singing songs to show my kids to never say never - that you can accomplish anything if you set your mind to it. I wanted to show them that anything is possible,” said Gray.

“It’s kind of like my motto in life: if someone else can do it why can’t I?”

There was no doubt about what Gray was going to do with his life. His dad Allan, a pipefitter, trained standardbreds as a hobby and Jamie has two uncles who were in horse racing.

“Both of my dad’s brothers trained race horses. Uncle John raced standardbreds and Uncle Sid trained thoroughbreds. One year they both had two-year-old Champions in Alberta. The odds on that are astronomical.

“I had my first horse when I was eight. During summer holidays I worked with the likes of Keith Clark, Keith Linton and Joe Hudon,” he said of three of Western Canada’s best.

“I did that full time when there was no school - I didn’t like school - from ages 12 to 16. Then I moved away from home and went to Ontario when I was 16. I had $80 in my pocket, jumped on a train and went east.”

Gray wrote letters to five of Canada’s top trainers asking if they needed help: Keith Waples, Billy Haughton, Joe O’Brien, Dr. John Hayes and Stanley Dancer.

Four of the five wrote back and Gray chose Dr. Hayes where he spent three years.

After writing his trainer’s license, Gray decided to come back west and start a stable.

“It worked out good,” said Gray, who as a driver has won 2,802 races for purse earnings of $14,571,582. As a trainer he won 1,712 races for earnings of $10,559,128.

In 2018, Gray and Kelly Hoerdt represented Alberta in the National Driver’s Championship.

Three stakes winners - Ringo Star, Blue Star Destiny and Imwarningyou - that Gray owned half of - allowed Jamie and Shelley to buy a piece of land 7 kilometres north of Villeneuve on Highway 44. “We basically built it from scratch. There was a house but it wasn’t finished. We built that and then we built a barn, a garage and a half-mile track which is where I do all my training.

“Ringo Star was the one who got us started. He made $93,000 in 2005 - he was third in the Nat Christie Memorial and won a division of the Western Canada Pacing Derby - and we sold him for $80,000. Blue Star Destiny made $100,000 and we sold it for $65,000; Imwarningyou made $95,000 and we sold her for $65,000.”

Another horse Gray campaigned, Myvillasonfire, set a two-year-old filly track record of 1:54 at Lacombe while Sotally Tober made $150,000 and was runner-up as Alberta’s three-year-old of the year in 2015.

He also had Mothers Melody, who took a mark of 1:54 3/5 and paced in 1:53 4/5 as a three-year-old.

With harness racing set to begin again in Calgary on Saturday, Gray said he believes the future is positive.

“It looks good. We’re on the upswing. The handle is improving. The races per day are up and we’ve got lots of horses.”

Harness racing at Century Downs will be contested on Saturday’s - post time 12:45 - and Wednesday’s - 6:15 p.m.

Next Wednesday marks the 10th year anniversary of Century Downs and will race under the new lights. A gala will be held.

The stakes schedule starts in May. The big day is August 2 when both the Ralph Klein and Rumpel memorial races will be held.

Thoroughbred racing begins on May 2 at Century Mile in Nisku.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Follow me on X (Twitter) at CurtisJStock and on Facebook
Author: The Turcottes: The Remarkable Story of a Horse Racing Dynasty.