On the morning of Sunday, January 31, horseman John Anthony ‘Tony’ MacRae passed away at the age of 80.
‘Mac’ passed away peacefully, with his daughter by his side, and has gone to be with Kitty, his wife of 51 years, in heaven.
Although his body had become tired and frail, MacRae’s spirit was full of grateful appreciation for a life well lived. He was strong-willed, witty, faithful, and generous to the people he loved. He enjoyed reminiscing about his 50+ year career as a Standardbred driver and trainer, one in which he won over 1,100 races.
Tony was born to John McRae and Grace Copeland in Lost River, Quebec and was one of 14 children. He loved his family, friends, Canadian whiskey and Lucky Strike no-filter cigarettes (not necessarily in that order!). He was an awesome dad to Gail York and Donna MacRae, father in law to Jeffrey York, adoring grandfather to Caitlin Congi, Kimberly Congi, and Katherine York, loving brother, and friend to many.
Tony will be dearly missed by those who knew and loved him.
A memorial service will be held in his honour at Carey Hand Cox Parker Funeral Home, 1350 W. Fairbanks Ave., Winter Park, FL, on Saturday, February 13 at 11:00 a.m. All are welcome to attend.
The family requests that any donations be made to the charity of your choice, in his name.
Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the family and friends of John Anthony ‘Tony’ MacRae.
I knew Mac from the early
I knew Mac from the early fifties. Everyone called him Mac then. He was a nice chap and a superb horseman. Our condolences to the family.
Mary Jane & John Findley.
Tony helped everyone (would
Tony helped everyone (would stop what he was doing to tack a shoe on someone else’s horse or help them in any way)—Jimmy Cruise credited him in a Hoofbeats article with getting Magician going (he took over jogging Magician everyday—they were going to get rid of him—he was a bad actor)—he did qualify Magician and also Gallo Blue Chip at Ben White Raceway…
He did have a good horse at the Meadowlands, but can’t remember the name right now.
In the early days, Tony had a pacer named Worthy Melody who was a top horse in Montreal.
Tony raced at Batavia Downs for over 40 years and had a farm in the area.
He raced everywhere from Montreal, Toronto, NY and Florida tracks.
I knew Tony from 1953 and we
I knew Tony from 1953 and we became very close friends. As long as I was going to Florida I visited him every week and we had some great sessions remembering old times and old friends. He had been to many more tracks than I had and filled me in on a lot of people I had only heard of.
He really missed his wife Kitty and we were not aware of her passing at the time as we were on our way north. We called and visited by telephone a few times since
but seemed to lose contact.
Sincerest condolences to his daughters (whom he was so proud of) and the rest of the family.
John and Mary Jane Findley.
I met Mac in the 60's,a great
I met Mac in the 60's,a great guy and always a pleasure to visit with whether it was in Florida, Windsor, Buffalo, Mohawk or Montreal. My condolences to the family.
Brian Webster
I used to work for Tony many
I used to work for Tony many years ago..RIP Mac,you were one of a kind! Condolences to the family.
A GREAT friend of mine and my
A GREAT friend of mine and my family since the 1950's. Would give up whatever he was doing to help anyone. Glad that Kendra and I got to spend some time with him a couple weeks ago. R.I.P. my friend.