TEE-JAY
08 March 1996
Un Desperado-N T Nad
Owner-T J Equestrian Ltd.
Tee-Jay raced for us for between 2001-2007, taking in three bumpers, 19 hurdle races, and 30 chases, running in a total of 52 races, winning on eight occasions, and placing second or third a further 11 times.He had two winning brothers, and his sire, Un Desperado will always be remembered as the sire of the triple Gold Cup winner Best Mate.
Tee-Jay started out by running in three bumpers, he made his debut at Wetherby in February 2001, but never had the required pace to get competitive. It was a different story when he made his hurdles debut in December 2001 at Catterick, under Brian Harding, winning at the first time of asking.Three weeks later he was a solid third under a penalty at Haydock, before winning again at Musselburgh in February 2002.He then took his chance in a Grade 3 novices handicap at Sandown, from a mark of 110, but was pulled up before two out.
Tee-Jay had his Summer break, and returned in October to make his chase debut. He made an inauspicious start over fences, making mistakes, and failing to get competitive in his first three attempts. He was quickly returned to hurdles, and from a much reduced mark of 94, finished a solid second at Hexham in March.This was followed by a return to the winners enclosure in May, also at Hexham, to close his season.
On his return in December at Southwell, he showed that he could go well fresh, and also act on a fast surface,by winning under Tony Dobbin, taking his mark up to 112.His next four runs were all in better class, and he struggled, until he returned to Hexham in May 2004, to win his fifth hurdle race.
Tee-Jay returned after his break in October 2004 to have another attempt at chasing. His hurdles mark was at a career high of 115, but his chase mark was only 100, but in four attempts he never looked like taking advantage.He did run a little better on three occasions at his favourite track Hexham in May, and June,finishing third on all three efforts.He raced on throughout the Summer, finishing fourth at Market Rasen, and then second at Sedgefield, before finally breaking his duck over fences, with a third course win at Hexham, from a career low mark of 79, under Graham Lee.He would only have to wait a further eight days for course win number four, when he won the 0-90 classified chase, a good piece of placing, as he was the highest rated horse in the race, as the handicapper had just raised him 11lb for his last win.
Tee-Jay had his break over the winter, and returned at Market Rasen in April 2006, to finish a respectable third.He failed to fire on his next three starts, and was then third twice at a respectable distance, before winning for the final time in his career.in the same classified chase he had won at Hexham 12 months earlier. In the most emphatic win of his career, he was allowed an easy lead, and came home with 25 lengths to spare.He raced again just four days later at Wetherby, and in another attempt to make all, he finished a very gallant runner up.
Tee-Jay would race a further seven times, but age was catching up,he ran his final race on October 7th, 2007 at Carlisle.
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