The Sporting Post is sad to announce that one of our turf greats, Bertie Hayden, passed away today.
‘Big Race Bert’ as he was known, was born in 1946 and was the son of a jockey. In a Parade article dated 2004, he related “My late dad, when he was a youngster, actually ran away from home to become a jockey and unfortunately for him he got heavy quite quick and he didn’t continue. He always had me interested in horses and I actually fell off my first racehorse at the age of four – on the beach opposite Natal Command. The horses used to work there and one Sunday morning my dad took me down there and put me on a horse that was being led around. The horse got fresh and bucked and threw me off and I landed in the sand. I got up, my face was covered in sand and my nose was bleeding but my dad took me and threw me straight back on the horse again and told me to ride some more.”
Despite those inauspicious beginnings, in 1960, at the age of 14, he became an apprentice to Robert Jackson and rode his first winner for the Jackson stable aboard Mesdames C and I Jackson’s Copper Rule. Bert remembered “The horse was No.13, drawn 13 and carried six stone thirteen. Thirteen is one of my lucky numbers.”
After 5 years, he transferred to Harold “Tiger” Wright and later moved to Cape Town, where he caught the eye of Syd Laird. He joined the Laird yard in 1971, transferring to the Durban string and winning the July aboard Mazarin that same year. He ended up staying for 12 years, forging one of the most powerful partnerships of the era. Bert won our premier handicap three times in total, including Yataghan in 1973 and the mighty Politician in 1978.
Bert Hayden on board Politician
Politician also famously carried him to two Met wins in 1978 and 1979, with his 1979 victory considered one of the greatest races in South African history, when they came from an impossible position to beat Festive Season by a neck.
Bert officially hung up his racing boots in 1991 due to a recurring back injury. He took out his trainers license, initially setting up shop in Gauteng and later starting a training centre in Ashburton. Some of the bigger names to pass through his hands included July runner Name The Key, Steven Charles and Beat The Breeze to name a few.
In November 2003, Hayden suffered a severe stroke. His assistant trainer took over from him for a while, but Hayden decided to close down his training centre in April 2004. He spent most of his latter years as a resident at a retirement home and reportedly passed away earlier today.
He will be remembered by all in the racing community as an enormous character, a fine rider and an amazing judge of pace.
“Big Race” Bert Hayden. 1946 – 2014
The greatest race. The 1979 J&B Met finish
