GARY PLAYER AT 90
Equine
Bliss
Owner, breeder, enthusiast. Gary Player is an ever-popular figure around racing circles
Christiaan Maas’ all-encompassing love for the game is also to the benefit of those who have the privilege of watching him
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BY CLINTON VAN DER BERG
‘I love golf, and I love horses and farming’
The sparkle in Gary Player’s eye never dulls when one talks to him about an ongoing love – horses. It was fitting that when one of the ‘unbreakable’ records in South African racing fell after 25 years, it was on a Player-owned horse, Double Grand Slam.
Jockey Richard Fourie had been closing in on a South African record 334 winners in a season, and when he achieved the magical No. 335 winning ride for 2023/24, he stood up in the saddle and punched the Hollywoodbets Greyville air in delight. And, ready to celebrate with the rider and the racing fraternity, was none other than Player himself.
The planets had aligned.
Horses have always been an important part of Player's life. He grew up riding horses, developing a lifelong love for thoroughbreds and established Gary Player Stud Farm near Colesberg, one of South Africa's leading breeding operations.
He has bred over 1 000 racehorses, including multiple stakes winners, among them Japanese champion L'Or de Martell and South African star Jungle Cove.
Player famously said: ‘Breeding a racehorse is like producing a champion golfer – pedigree, preparation and passion all matter.'
He has been on the equine landscape since 1964. 'In over 60 years, and I’ve bred some Group 1 (the pinnacle of racing) winners. I’m the only South African breeder who had a horse who ran in the English Derby, won a Group 1 in America, and finished second in the St Leger, the oldest Classic in the world. I've had a lot of success.'
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Of his breeding operation he said: 'I had one of the most beautiful farms in the Karoo – we sold it – but now I've got 50 horses in training. I do a lot of partnerships and have some of my own, and I’m a horse nut!
'It’s that old saying which I love that we keep hearing: the outside of a horse is good for the inside of a man. It’'s a wonderful thing if you’ve ever got a child who has a problem, just get them going to horses and you’ll get through their problem.
'What I like is if you look at the situation it does with employment. South Africa has a massive problem with unemployment, a dangerous problem, so anything we can do to eliminate that is great. Two things, golf and horses, they create so many jobs and we’ve got to be aware of that.'
Of the racing industry he said: ‘It plays a vital role in our economy, in people’s lives, charities, it’s a fantastic sport. They don’t call it “the sport of kings” for nothing. It goes beyond our opinions, back in history, the vital role the horse has played in history and our society.’
Player co-owned the South African Equus Horse of the Year for 2023/24, Dave The King, but one of his remaining ambitions is to lead in the winner of the Durban July.
'I've had a second in the Durban July (with homebred and co-owned Superwood in 2004). For me, the King’s Plate or the Met would also be races I’d like to win.'
Candiese Lenferna
