Gary Player - The Legend

Gary Player’s Passion for Horses Races Through His Veins

Nov 12, 2009 | Filed Under: General News   

At the 2009 Breeders’ Cup Championship Races Gary Player received the inaugural Breeders’ Cup Sports and Racing Excellence Award at the Santa Anita Park. This award “honors an individual who has established a career of excellence in a chosen profession and also maintains a passionate interest as an owner, breeder, or participant in the thoroughbred racing industry.”

“Demonstrating that same commitment to excellence which made him the world’s greatest international golfer, Gary’s outstanding success as a thoroughbred breeder and passionate supporter of horseracing makes him an extraordinary first recipient of our Sports and Racing Award,” said Breeders’ Cup president and chief executive officer Greg Avioli.

At the Gary Player Stud Farm in South Africa, Player produced an average of 12 percent stakes winners per crop, including Pinehurst, World Over, Foreign Source, Kadarko, Foolish Pride, Creator and Superwood. This season the farm produced the multiple Group I winner Lady Windemere who was voted “Filly of the Year.”

Player, known for his dedication and determination, had this to say about the sport today, “We need more horses like Rachel Alexandra and Sea The Stars [champion of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in France who was immediately retired to the stud] to come and compete. Don’t hide them away. Don’t make excuses about tracks. We need these champions from all around the world to compete against each other.”

He is pulling from experience and his true passion for sport is undeniable, “I never in my life said I’m not going to play against Jack Nicklaus or Arnold Palmer because the course is too long or is too windy or doesn’t suit me. If you’re a champ, you get in there and you play against the lot and beat them. That is the real sign of a champion.”

His response to people who shun competition: “Don’t put them away. Don’t put them to stud too early. We need Sea The Stars out here. We need Rachel Alexandra running against Zenyatta. That stimulates the business. So what if you get beat? You’re going to win and you’re going to lose. And if you’re a competitor, you must be prepared to win and lose.”
No one, Gary Player included, can deny that we are currently in a time of transition in business and the economy, “The horse racing industry is having challenges like any other business. This is the time when we have all got to get together and contribute to help it be sustainable. We go through phases in life but I believe what the horse racing industry needs right now is a convention of people—the media, sponsors, breeders and businessmen - all with one purpose in mind.”

Gary Player wants to see those with the love for the sport to promote its future and bring it to all generations, “We have got to come up with new ideas—a stimulus plan in our way, not with money but with ideas. There are so many capable people in the thoroughbred industry around the world. Sir Winston Churchill, my all-time hero, said ‘the youth of a nation are the trustees of prosperity.’ We have to get young people interested in this business….Once you get them out here and see these beautiful animals, they will love it.”

“I am involved in two of the best sports businesses in the world—horseracing and golf—I am not a gentleman farmer. I get up a five o’clock. I shovel horse manure and I do the whole damn lot. The horse business to me is a disease,” said Player, who does not allow for excuses. He is currently on a 30 day trip that will see him in 12 countries. Despite his schedule, he makes time to be a hands-on horseman and get his hands dirty as often as he can on his 20,000 acre farm in South Africa.

For more information on the Gary Player Stud Farm, please visit www.garyplayerstud.com.

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