Gary Alexander

The Alexander family name is firmly etched into the history books of South African Horseracing and trainer GARY ALEXANDER has continued the great success his father Duncan had as a professional jockey in the sport. After starting off as an assistant to his dad, Gary took out his trainer’s licence in 1982 and has saddled in excess of 1300 winners, including over a century of graded and listed winners during a distinguished career. The yard has always had Turffontein racecourse as their base and it isn’t surprising that they have enjoyed most of their success at the city track. In fact, Gary’s most memorable moment in his career has come on his home track when he dominated the inaugural running of Champion’s Day by winning two Grade 1 races, in addition to the marathon staying event, the Gold Bowl. The stable has been associated with greats such as Ruby Clipper, Tommy Hotspur, Drum Star, Clifton King but will fondly be remembered for R60 000 purchase Pierre Jourdan’s amazing achievements and his good second behind champion filly Igugu in the Vodacom Durban July of 2011. Gary saddles a quality staying filly in the form of COBY in this Saturday’s South African Fillies Classic and whilst he rates her highly, he acknowledges that her main mission for the season is the South African Oaks at the end of April. He gets great support from his brother Dean and we wish the entire Alexander team everything of the best in their future endeavours.

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What is your name? Gary Mark Alexander.

What is your star sign and birthdate? Scorpio and I was born on 10 November 1959.

Where were you born and where did you grow up? I was born and grew up in the Southern Suburbs of Johannesburg.

Where do you live? Morningside, Sandton.

Tell us about your family? I’m married to Danica and we have two children, Sasha (6 years old) and Johnmarc (2 years old).

Favourite food? Italian food.

Favourite drink? Red wine and whiskey.

Favourite sport? Rugby, soccer and cricket.

Favourite holiday destination? Game reserves.

Favourite racecourse in South Africa? Turffontein.

Favourite author? Scott Hahn.

What book are you reading at the moment? Letter And Spirit.

What would your super power be? God.

Who is the one person that you would love to meet and why?  Pope Francis. I admire his humility and his unconventional approach.

Property aside, what’s the most expensive thing you’ve bought?  SL 500 Mercedes a few years back.

Where did you go to school? Hill High School.

What did you do once you completed schooling? I worked for my dad as a stable employee.

Tell us about your introduction into horseracing? My father, Duncan was a jockey, so I was born into a racing family.

Can you share some of your earliest happy memories of the sport? I have been blessed with lots of happy memories in horseracing. Running 1^st & 2^nd with Kick The Habit & Naval Guest in the Germiston November Handicap, also having four runners and four winners at the Vaal in May 1987, comes to mind as the earliest happy memories.

Did you have any aspirations of becoming a jockey? Yes, but I was not small enough.

What convinced you to take up training and who were you assistant to? I’ve always loved horses and I’ve always been passionate about horseracing, so nobody convinced me, it was something I just wanted to do. I was an assistant to my dad.

What were some of the important lessons you learnt early on? Patience and good stable management is key.

What year were you granted your trainer’s licence, where were you based and how many horses did you start off with? I was granted my trainer’s licence in 1982, I started with 12 horses and I’ve always been based at Turffontein Racecourse.

How long did it take you to have your first winner and tell us about it? I had my first winner “Northumberland’ about a month after taking out my trainer’s licence.

Mention some of the better horses you worked with early on in your career? Early in my career, Wallah, Gay Tune, Bamboogie, Kick The Habit, Naval Guest, Heartwood, Thousand Nights, Speaking Oak, Imperious Sue, Tommy Hotspur, Flying Promise, Ruby Clipper, Timber Trader, Final Claim, Kazatzkah, Drum Star, Elegant Al, Brutal Force, Silver Sliver, Mosszao, Lady Of The Turf, Clifton King all come to mind but there were a lot of others that I have not mentioned.

Statistics often determines the true greatness of a man…

What is the total number of winners you have had to date? Over 1300 winners.

What has been your best finishing position on the National and Gauteng log? Finished third on the National log a few times in the nineties.

What is the most number of winners you have had in a season? 94.

Tell us about the most number of winners you have had in a day? I have had six winners twice in one day at Turffontein & four winners on a day 9 times.

How many graded and listed winners have you had in your career? Over 100.

Of those, which were in Grade 1 events and tell us about the first one? Mosszao was my first Grade 1 winner in the Gold Bowl, you’ll have to visit our website to get all the details on our graded winners. www.garyalexander.co.za.

Which of the major Grade 1 events gave you the most satisfaction in winning? All of them, but I think Tommy Hotspur stands out as he was very offset and we battled to keep him sound, so when he won the Computaform Sprint that was very special to me.

What has been your most memorable day in horseracing? The inaugural running of Champions Day at Turffontein, we won the Champion Stakes (Drum Star), the SA Derby (Silver Sliver) and the Gold Bowl (Lady Of The Turf). Incidentally, Mosszao & Lady Of The Turf are the only two fillies ever to have won the Gold Bowl.

Where are your stables currently based and how many horses do you have in your care? Turffontein Racecourse and I have 75 horses.

Horseracing has changed a lot over the past two decades as there are many more trainers around, making it much more tougher to acquire loyal support from patrons. In order for a yard to be extremely successful it seems that marketing has become a very important tool. What are your thoughts on this? The strength of any stable is the backing of the owners, but it is the loyal owners that make the difference. Of course it is necessary to market and get new clients on a continuous basis but more importantly is to keep them happy. Check out our website on www.garyalexander.co.za.

Does the yard have a stable jockey and a sponsor? I had an arrangement with Nooresh Juglall, but he is off to Singapore. We may have a new sponsor shortly, watch this space!

Would you like to pay tribute to some of your loyal patrons that have been with the yard over the years? Yes. Bruce Gardner, Kirk Michael, Myron Berzack, Pravin Chetty, Greg Sadie, Gaynor Rupert (Drakenstein Stud), H. M. King Letsie III, Robert Garner, Chris Gerber (Moutonshoek Stud), Tim & Chris Hurley, Gerald & Anthony Kalil, Adrian Guiricich, Bob Yearham, Darren Simpson, Len Scher, David Maboi, Bernard Kantor, Mick Goss (Summerhill Stud).

The stable has also been known to give young apprentices some very good opportunities. Are you using any youngsters at the moment and which ones have you earmarked as future stars? Nooresh Juglall looks above average at this stage, there are some promising youngsters coming through, it’s still early days though.

The workrider races continue to be a great hit in Gauteng and especially at the Vaal where there is a huge following. What are your thoughts on these events? I am very much in favour of workriders races. I sponsored the very first workriders race at Turffontein.

You have had some great jockeys ride for you over the years. Who would be the one jockey that stands out in your mind as being closest to the ‘perfect’ package? Well, all of Raymond Rhodes, Jeff Lloyd, MJ Odendaal, Doug Whyte, Andrew Fortune & Piere Strydom were our stable jockeys at one time or another. All were great to work with and top riders and I have some great memories of them. If I had to single out one, probably Doug Whyte.

You look to have a very decent string of horses at the moment, starting with MEISSA. This son of Jallad got back to winning ways in a handicap last time. He seems to have a lot of issues, can you tell us about them? Meissa chipped both front fetlock joints in the race when he ran second to Mujaarib, they were surgically removed thereafter, we have had to tread lightly with him ever since, he is a big horse and comes down hard on his front legs. He has had the time and is sound now, we are just taking it race by race with him at the moment.

You nominated FLIGHT WARNING for the SA Classic but he hasn’t made the final field. Tell us a bit about him and what can we expect from him? Flight Warning will not be running in the SA Classic, the SA Derby is his main mission. He is still a bit immature; he is going to grow into a lovely four year old.

What do you think his optimum distance will be? 2000m plus.

In the Fillies section, the 2^nd leg of the Triple Tiara, you have nominated COBY. She kept on well to win a handicap last time. How did she come out of the race? She has come out of the race well and is improving all the time.

How easy is she to train and does she have any niggles? Coby is pretty straight forward, she has a lovely temperament and is easy to work with.

Nooresh Juglall partnered her in both her victories, will he keep the ride? Nooresh knows her and I like to keep a winning combination together when I can.

She looks like a quality stayer, is the Oaks her main mission? Her main mission this season is the SA Oaks.

The KZN season is just around the corner. Will you be raiding with any of your runners? I have some improving sorts that will be making the trip down to Durban during the season.

Have you heard the news that Multichoice will be terminating the contract with Tellytrack from 26 March 2014? What are your thoughts on this?  Well, it is not good for racing in general, so I hope that it can be sorted out sooner rather than later.

Do you think there is a place for Bookmakers in South African horseracing?  I don’t think that they are going to go away, so the sooner the administrators and the bookmakers can find common ground the better for racing.

Being a stalwart of the game, do you think it is healthy that a large chunk of it is controlled by one body i.e Phumelela (owners of Betting World, Racing Association, NHA, Totes, Racecourses & Tellytrack)? Monopolies are dangerous in general, but can work if they have the industry at heart! In this industry the horse should come first, I doubt this is happening.

What changes would you like to see made in South African horseracing? Priority is stakes, no stakes, no owner, no horse!

Do you have any assistance when buying yearlings or older horses at the sales or off the stud farms? My brother Dean and I work the sales together; we also visit stud farms when we get time.

How do you celebrate a really successful day? In the old days we use to party a bit, but now I enjoy being with my family.

What other members of your family are really keen on racing? Dean & Julie are both actively involved in racing.

The polytrack at Fairview has done great things for racing in PE. Do you think a polytrack in Gauteng will be good? Yes, most definitely but it should have happened twenty years ago!

The saying is “Behind every successful man is an equally successful woman”. Does this apply to Gary Alexander? Yes!