He still needs another surgery on his knee, which would make it 12 operations in the past couple of years, while in the middle of a medical discharge at the end of a career as an elite Navy clearance diver.

The years of searching for everything from plane wrecks to underwater explosives has taken a physical and mental toll.

In his darker moments, Foye has turned to his great passion of horse racing.

Foye saw a fluent striding Epaulette yearling and immediately knew it was the colt he wanted a share in, after developing an eye for thoroughbred talent while growing up around his uncle's farm, in the upper Hunter Valley.

On Saturday, that now four-year-old Peter and Paul Snowden gelding named Military Zone will jump from barrier eight, in the inaugural $1 million The Gong at Kembla Grange.

"It's kept that zest going for me in a pretty hard time," Foye told the Mercury.

"Being in the special forces has had a pretty negative impact on my body, I've had a double neck fusion and disc replacement.

"It's been tough, I'm just recovering from my 11^th surgery now. Being involved in Military Zone has helped keep me going at times, it's exciting to have him in a $1 million race down here at home."

Military Zone was showed class finishing seventh in the first-ever $7.5 million Golden Eagle at Rosehill, over 1500m three weeks ago.

Jumping at $101, he built a run from deep in the field, before jockey Andrew Atkins had to switch sharply off heels in the straight.

But Military Zone kept coming, grinding it out to be four lengths off Chris Waller's Kolding, who found a late split to win thanks to Glen Boss's contender for the ride of the spring.

"It was a muddling tempo and he struggled to get a drag into the race, especially for his first time at 1500m," Paul Snowden said.

"(The Gong) is a couple of grades back from that, so it's the perfect time to test him at the mile.

"With a bit more luck, I'm not saying he would have won this prep, but he certainly would have been much closer to the finish and would probably be starting equal favourite (on Saturday). We've had a couple of wide draws, but from barrier eight he should be able to get the right sort of run from midfield."

Crucially, Military Zone also drops 4.5 kilograms for The Gong.

Military Zone had gained an exemption into the Group 1 Stradbroke Handical this year after winning the Fred Best Classic, but they opted to protect his long-term prospects and spell him.

His run on Saturday will provide a key indicator for future campaigns.

"If we know he can run a sound mile it will open up our options into autumn and winter," Snowden said.

Foye was a talented junior footballer who came through the Steelers pathway and ended up in the Queensland Cup, playing against the likes of Paul Green and Brad Thorn.

His last two seasons in rugby league came at Wests Illawarra, at the same time as Australian, NSW and Manly Clive Churchill Medal-winning forward Glenn Stewart started his career.

Now at the end of his second career, with the Navy, Foye is hoping to forge a new life in the racing industry, building a new ownership syndication business.

"With all the injuries I've had, obviously going into anything involving physical labour is out of the equation," Foye said.

"So racing is something I'm passionate about and I'd like to follow through working in syndication and getting people looking at small shares involved.

"Military Zone was the first horse I'd picked out myself to be involved in, so it's exciting to be at this point where we can run in some big races.

"And being involved with the Snowdens and (owners) Triple Crown as a syndicator has shown me it's something I'd like to be ."

The red Triple Crown Syndications colours are most famous for Redzel winning the first two editions of The Everest, an ownership group which includes Wollongong man Peter Piras.

With five wins from just 13 career starts, mostly in black-type company, Foye is hoping patience will pay off on Saturday.

"He's lightly raced, it's taken him a while, but he's been a different horse since he was gelded," Foye said.

"All I wanted was something that could run well in town on a Saturday, let alone for a $1 million Hopefully it's just the start for him."

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