Hall of Fame trainer Pat Duff to make late call on Gentle Prince

By Glenn Davis

Veteran trainer Pat Duff will make a late call on whether Gentle Prince can give him his first metropolitan winner since being inducted into the Queensland Racing Hall of Fame when he heads to Eagle Farm on Wednesday.

The 82-year-old Duff has been training for over six decades and has Gentle Prince entered for the Class 5 Handicap over 1400 metres.

The meeting was originally to be held at Doomben before it was switched to Eagle Farm following the recent rain deluge.

However, Duff is concerned with Gentle Prince’s outside barrier of 13 and is hoping for several scratchings.

Apprentice Wendy Peel has ridden Gentle Prince at his past nine starts and will again partner the five-year-old.

Gentle Prince has started 35 times for five wins and 12 placings and is coming off a last start second to the Brian Smith-trained Command King in a 1690 metre Class 5 event at Ipswich on October 19.

“He loves a wet track but I’m a bit worried about his barrier,” Duff said.

“He’s drawn 13 out of 13 and he’s got to back up from last week’s run at Ipswich.

“He ran a brave race at Ipswich over a mile and he’s been racing consistently.

“But, I think he’s probably found his level in a Class 5.”

A strong supporter of bush racing, Duff’s lifelong service to the racing industry was rewarded earlier this month when he was inducted into the Queensland Racing Hall of Fame.

Duff originally hails from the Burnett region and has trained an array of big name gallopers such as Scomeld, Handsome Prince, Our Cavalier, Star Of Florida, Hard Rock, Hard To Catch and Heart Of The Citi, to name a few.

He also is highly regarded for developing apprentices, such as champion jockeys Mick Dittman, Mike Pelling, Jim Byrne and Mandy Radecker.

“It was a huge honour to be inducted into the Hall Of Fame and it was a great night as all my family was there,” Duff said.

Duff shows no signs of slowing down and has saddled 98 starters so far this season for 12 wins and 23 placings for a winning strike rate of 12.2 per cent.