It was the horse no one wanted to buy as a yearling and the horse that almost died on the operating table as a three-year-old. Tonight, only 12 months on from major surgery, it may well be the horse that wins a Group 1 and books a ticket to the nation’s richest race for harness racing four-year-olds, the Chariots Of Fire.
Tee Cee Bee Macray, who will contest tonight’s Nestle Professional 4YO Bonanza, is fast becoming a favourite of co-owner and breeder Ian Kitchin.
“We are very fortunate we got him to the racetrack, because a couple of serious issues could have meant the end of his life,” Kitchin said.
“The horse is a miracle horse in a lot of ways. A lot of these things come back down to the attitude of the horse itself.”
Tee Cee Bee Macray suffered a bad viral infection in his neck early last year, which threatened to spread to his lungs.
That spread would have killed him, but a “major procedure” was successful and after a stint on the sidelines he returned to racing last October.
After a 10-month lay-off, Tee Cee Bee Macray produced four consecutive wins before a fast-paced third at Melton.
“He’s not a horse that will quit on you, he’s been a fighter all his life and that’s something you bottle up and it comes out on the racetrack,” Kitchin said.
The illness has meant the four-year-old gelding, which is trained at Alan Tubbs’ Bacchus Marsh stable, has to date been lightly raced in comparison to tonight’s rivals.
His nine starts have produced six wins and $23,902, an amount that could be quadrupled in tonight’s $100,000 feature race.
It’s a far cry from Tee Cee Bee Macray’s timid entry to racing.
He was the first foal of metropolitan class winner Way Mya Macray, which Kitchin had sired by Ponder, a medium-priced US stallion that the breeder considered a good bloodline cross with the mare.
“By being the first foal (of Way Mya Macray), I wanted to see what type of foal she would have,” Kitchin said.
“The first foal has a tendency to be on the small side. I wanted to see what type of foal dropped before pulling the trigger on a bigger costing stallion.”
At the APG sales Kitchin found little interest in the yearling and so it was led back into his float and returned to Macray Lodge.
“No one seemed to like him and so I took him home,” Kitchin said, but he didn’t give up, instead organising a syndicate to race the horse with him.
During a US tour, where Kitchin – a big Elvis Presley fan – attended Graceland in Memphis, he was drawn to the name of the King’s back-up band TCB, an acronym for Taking Care of Business. And the name Tee Cee Bee Macray was born.
“He’s turned out to be a very nice horse indeed,” Kitchin said.
After last year’s surgery, Tee Cee Bee Macray followed four wins in October and November last year with a short spell before returning at Tabcorp Park Melton on January 22, when first-up he ran into The Culture and Itz Bettor To Win.
“I watched the race with a number of co-owners not quite knowing what to expect,” Kitchin said.
“At one stage I thought he’s going to win this. He then tired off in the last 100m and I thought that was a bit disappointing.
“Then I realised they ran a 1:51.6 (mile rate) and he was first up from a spell. It was three or four seconds faster than anything he’d run in his life.
“It was unbelievable, and that’s the sort of level he will be running against in the Group 1.”
The mile rate was just half-a-second outside the track record set by superstar pacer Smoken Up, unheard of in a C4-5 class with $6325 stakes.
Both The Culture and Itz Bettor To Win are entered for tonight’s return bout, in which Tee Cee Bee Macray’s chances were done no harm when he drew barrier one.
“It’s good that he is getting the opportunity to show his wares,” Kitchin said.
“He’s a baby and is still on a learning curve. He does what he does at the moment on pure adrenaline and is just learning the craft as he goes along.
“Everyone can see the ability, it’s just a matter of can he take it the next step.”
The winner will be granted entry into the Group 1 Chariots Of Fire at Menangle, which Kitchin said was one of “the great races you watch over the years and to have a runner would be incredible”.
“That’s one of the big reasons you breed horses, to follow their careers like they are your babies,” Kitchin said.
“I have horses racing in Western Australia, New South Wales, and I still follow their careers, it’s like they are vital cogs in your machine.
“It’s a huge buzz, when I breed a horse and see it then going into racing. If it manages to win a Group 1 race it’s a fantastic feeling.”
Michael Howard