News

Tubman's keeping faith with favourite Chance Bye

18th Apr 2011

Illawarra Mercury - Michael Cox - Friday, 15 April 2011

Mick Tubman has always maintained "it's not about the money" - and yesterday he proved he is a man of his word.

The part-time carpet-layer and battling Kembla trainer yesterday knocked back $340,000 for his beloved filly Chance Bye - a horse he bought on credit for $15,000 two years ago - at the Australian Easter Broodmare Sale in Sydney.

"Do you know how hard it is to say no to $340,000?" Tubman said yesterday.

Chance Bye was a supplementary entry to the Inglis auction and bidding was fierce on the nuggety three-year-old, with Australia's leading bloodstock agents vying for the valuable breeding prospect.

When the auctioneer's hammer finally fell just $10,000 off her hefty reserve, a single bid would have seen the filly leave her former trainer's hands.

A "relieved" Tubman declared he and part-owner Jack Knight would now take on the sport's real powerhouses - the super-rich stud farms - and breed foals from their once-unfashionable thoroughbred.

Tubman might look like the quintessential battler, but he is a shrewd businessman. The 62-year-old has struck a deal with Widden Stud in the upper Hunter Valley, where Chance Bye will be sent to second-season sire Sebring, the 2008 Golden Slipper winner.

Sebring's service fee for 2011 is listed at $49,500 plus GST, but Tubman has secured a discounted rate and reduced agistment fees on Widden's broodmare farm.

When Tubman purchased Chance Bye in the same Newmarket sales ring just over two years ago, he didn't have the money to pay for her.

In stepped South Coast businessman Knight, who fronted the cash and went "halves" in the daughter of Snitzel.

In a whirlwind two-year-old season, Chance Bye won her first three starts and collected more than $500,000 in prizemoney.

Tubman continually rejected overtures for his once-in-a-lifetime horse throughout her early career.

The speed-machine was retired after a winless and injury-riddled three-year-old preparation.

The one-off financial boost of the Inglis broodmare sale loomed as an attractive option, as opposed to the unpredictable and expensive breeding industry, but when it came to the crunch yesterday, the money just didn't add up and the "not for sale" sign was again firmly in place.

It was again Knight who has provided the financial clout to help keep Chance Bye close to Tubman.

"Jack really didn't want to sell her, but I was worried about the ongoing costs and getting old," Tubman said.

"But he said, 'Don't worry about it, I'm older than you,' and he has got plenty."

Although the owners will have to pour thousands into the breeding process, Tubman hasn't ruled out keeping and training Chance Bye's offspring himself, especially if they have the same famously crooked legs as the horse he calls "Chicken".

"If they've got bent legs like her I'll keep them, if they've got straight legs I'll sell them."