Tact McLeod to fulfil lifelong dream for Nelson harness racing fan

Jonny Turner Harness Racing Journalist

Tenacity and generosity have given Don Rae the chance to live a harness racing dream with Tact McLeod in the New Zealand Cup amid his battle with cancer.

Southland owners Trevor Proctor and Diane Dynes have brought Rae into the ownership of their pacer for the great race, so the Nelson harness racing enthusiast can enjoy a moment he had previously only dreamed of.

Being at Addington to enjoy the theatre of New Zealand Cup Day, let alone owning a New Zealand Cup runner, was something Rae wouldn’t have even considered as little as a month ago.

Then, the passionate harness racing enthusiast had no association with Dynes or Proctor and his focus was squarely on his health.

“A month or so ago I didn’t know if I was going to make it to Christchurch, so it was a provisional acceptance, health allowing.”

“But we have made it down here.”

Now that he has made it to Christchurch, Rae admits being a matter of hours away from watching his own New Zealand Cup starter is rather surreal.

“It is completely surreal, especially considering I have spent a month in Nelson Hospital doing my best to die.”

“So, this is kind of like a comeback.”

Rae is a lifelong harness racing enthusiast who will be arguably the most qualified New Zealand Cup brain at Addington Raceway on Tuesday, given he showed the nation his knowledge of the great race in his victory on an episode on Mastermind in 2016.

With the help of Harness Racing New Zealand, Rae will be a part of cup history on Tuesday after Proctor and Dynes invited him to be part of their experience with Tact McLeod.

“It is incredibly generous of them,” Rae said.

“It is an amazing thing to put out there for someone you have never met before in your life.”

“I think the generosity and open-heartedness is amazing.”

While facing his incredibly testing health battle, Rae is determined to remain positive.

And he can’t help but think his opportunity with Tact McLeod is linked to it.

“It is part of the message, don’t give up and good stuff can keep happening.”

“It is one of the nastier versions of the ‘Big C’ and it was a bit of a surprise to be diagnosed with it.”

“I started losing weight reasonably spectacularly from about October last year and that is what led us down a diagnostic path to say there is something a bit grim happening here.”

“It took us a wee while to get to the bottom of what was actually going on.”

“It is just one of those things, in its broader sense it’s a pretty common cause of health problems in people these days.”

“I think it is important to maintain a positive attitude no matter what happens.”

Dynes and Proctor were keen to help Rae enjoy the New Zealand Cup experience given their own recent experience with cancer.

Tact McLeod is named after the couple’s grandniece, the late Charlotte McLeod, who passed away in 2021 at just nine-years-old after bravely battling neuroblastoma.

Rae is thrilled to have been invited to join the family to cheer on the specially-named pacer and soak up the experience of New Zealand Cup day.

“The experience of being there and going down to the stables and watching him being saddled up, then obviously the excitement of the race.”

“In a way, it doesn’t really matter where the horse finishes, it is just the experience of being part of the ownership team for the day.”

Tact McLeod’s New Zealand Cup start adds to the incredible legacy of the Tact breed of horses, developed by Diane’s parents the late Derek and Bessie Dynes.

Though Rae has yet to meet Dynes and Proctor, he is well familiar with the breed.

“I am extremely pleased that he is the horse that I am going to be associated with.”

“He has obviously got plenty of ability.”

“Funnily enough, I probably started punting far too early from a legal perspective, but I was probably laying bets on Diane’s father’s horses when I was 12 years old or something like that.”

“So there is a funny little connection going back with the Tact breed, going back a long way.”

Tact McLeod will have an army of supporters when starting as the pride of Southland in the New Zealand Cup.

But with Rae on the team, that army just got a whole lot bigger.