Jason Gaffney chuckles about the fact a local syndicate travelled to Sydney to the yearling sales to bring home a colt bred right here in Forbes.
But it made last weekend all the more special, when the now two-year-old had a major win.
Mac Bon is owned by Gaffney with Mark Hartwig, Greg Hartwig and Bailey Hartwig, and was bred right here in Forbes by Phil and Denise Thurston at Celestial Standardbreds.
Mac Bon took out the IRT Breeders Crown for 2YO Colts and Geldings at Melton, Victoria, in sensational style, thrilling all local connections.
"Greg and I went down and watched it - we were on course," Gaffney said.
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"We turned the owners' room upside down when he won. It's just awesome that (Thurstons) bred it and we got the chance to race it."
Mac Bon is now trained and driven by Sydney's Luke McCarthy, who identified the colt's promise watching Gaffney drive him in a televised trial.
"(He) rang me up and said I'd love to train that horse for you," Gaffney recalled.
Two starts in, McCarthy recommended turning the horse out and gelding him.
"He's just gone leaps and bounds since," Gaffney said.
Mac Bon looked a winner well out from the finish line in the final at Melton, taking an early lead.
"He only had to pull out as they rounded the corner," Gaffney said.
"He looked a winner a long way from home, he was just travelling so good. Luke said he never even pulled the ear plugs out on the horse, he was doing it that easy."
And his secret to success? Temperament, reckons Gaffney, who's a long-time trainer and driver himself.
"Even at home at our stables our kids could lead him around, he's a beautiful horse to do anything with," he said.
"He doesn't under-race, he doesn't over-race. He's sort of the perfect race horse and we didn't realise we had it until we sent him to a very, very good trainer."
Breeder Phil Thurston would agree with that.
He felt Mac Bon, who was bred out of the successful Bon Accord Gal, had outstanding potential from a young age.
Central to that was his temperament, even as a foal,
"He was always a wonderful colt, such a good boy to do anything with, a great temperament," Thurston said.
He's grown into a nice size, remaining very athletic, and put in the sort of performances that indicated to the breeders that he had the potential for big wins in him.
The Thurstons were watching from Forbes - they follow all their horses through their careers.
Mac Bon impressed in his heat, placing fourth with a brilliant run home despite being held up badly.
So when he drew barrier two for the final, and was scheduled to have McCarthy back in the driver's seat for the main race, Thurston knew it would be a race to watch.
BREEDERS' DELIGHT
It really doesn't get much better than this for Phil and Denise Thurston, who breed harness racing horses on their property here in Forbes.
Mac Bon's win makes three Group winners out of just six foals Celestial Standardbreds bred that season - and everyone in Forbes can imagine the conditions the Thurstons were dealing with during the major floods of the Spring of 2022.
They had no choice but to keep this particular group of horses on property as rising waters confined them to closer and closer quarters, so to see now Bittersweet, Fate Awaits and Mac Bon achieve major success racing as two-year-olds this year is a dream come true.
"Absolutely quite amazing," are Phil's words.
"People are usually happy to get a group winner int their lifetime."
So far this year Bittersweet has won the Gold Tiara at Bathurst's Gold Crown meeting and Fate Awaits won the Protostar followed by the Breeders Challenge.
"It's a real coup for us as breeders ... quite phenomenal really," Thurston said.
What all three had in common all along was that great temperament.
"They were just horses that were good to handle, they would cooperate, they would work with you, you could just do anything with them," Thurston said.
"It makes a big difference especially as two-year-olds, they've got to be mature in the head to race as two-year-olds."
BIG FUTURE
Phil Thurston can't wait to see what Mac Bon does in future.
"He's a horse that will improve with age, because of his size and because of his breeding, and you can just sort of see he keeps stepping up," Thurston said.
"I'm looking forward to his three-year-old season."
Gaffney says Mac Bon is being prepared for the Regional Breeders Final, followed by the NSW Derby and hopefully the Bathurst Gold Crown Carnival.
After the Melton win, the Thurstons joined the owners at The Inn for a celebratory round and they couldn't be happier they get to share in the success.
"We're so pleased he's doing well," Phil said.
"We were so pleased they went down there. You've really got to savour those moments, they don't come around very often."
ENJOYING SUCCESS
The syndicate did actually have two big wins to celebrate last week: their mare Chynchilla won the Group 3 Forever Gold race in Queensland.
The syndicate purchased Chynchilla as a race mare out of Victoria and as a three-year-old she contested the Victorian major group races.
"She got to a stage where our trainer said she'd be better suited to Queensland - she's won eight of her 11 starts there and just over $100,000 in prize money," Gaffney said.
Looks like they've made the right move!
Riding high on their successes, Gaffney says the syndicate is excited for the future as well.
He's personally got about six young horses back in work on the refurbished Forbes showground harness racing track, preparing them to send to other trainers in future.
