Obituary 'CG' (Christopher G.) Tracey
Former leading racehorse owner and breeder 'CG' Tracey died last Wednesday. He was 86. Born in 1923, CG spent much of his adult life in Zimbabwe. He was the chairperson of Tobacco Sales Limited. He became a farmer at the age of 16, and gradually became one of Zimbabwe’s most affluent and influential people. He took a great interest in the training and uplift of farm workers and ran a very successful commercial farm until his farm, Mount Lothian, was seized by Judge Paddington Garwe for his own personal use in 2003. Despite the loss of his much loved estate, CG spent the rest of his life in Zimbabwe.
Married to Wendy in August 1946, CG had three daughters, Elizabeth, Diana and Caroline.
CG had shares in the wonderful broodmares Doff The Derby and Burghclere. Doff The Derby is one of just a handful of mares who produced two English classic winners (Imagine and Generous), whilst Burghclere became dam of Gp1 winner and Epsom Oaks runner up Wind In Her Hair (Alzao). The latter went on to produce the mighty Japanese champion Deep Impact (Sunday Silence).
In South Africa, CG was best known as the joint owner of Ecurie (Liloy). A superb race filly, Ecurie’s was the champion 2 y.o. filly in South Africa in 1984. As a three-year-old she maintained her high-class form; she scored in the Garden Province Stakes, and was placed in both the Mainstay (behind Model Man) and Cape Guineas (behind Sea Warrior).
Over the years, CG enjoyed plenty of success in the racing and breeding industry, and he stood a number of high-class stallions. Amongst them were the high-class Princilon, the superbly bred Fair Wind as well as Prairie Prince.
He maintained his deep interest in horse racing right up to his death and saw his last horse (Sea Chest) win at Turffontein two years ago.
Shortly before his death, CG published his autobiography, "All For Nothing?". It gave him great pleasure to be able to publish a book that tells the story of a long and challenging life in a country in transition.
C G Tracey died the other day and his book "All For Nothing?" was on sale at the CFU Congress. It is an excellent read for anyone who is interested in this country and wants to see what has gone on over the past century – no man played a bigger role in building the country and served its best interests more than 'CG', as he was known. The title was suggested by his wife before she died and all he did was to add the question mark to emphasise that it is not yet all over.