From the minute Kangaroo Jack walked out of the barn for the photoshoot, we could see he was all class. The icy, gale force winds disturbed nothing more than his forelock, as he posed serenely next to his trainer Gary Alexander. “It’s his temperament which makes him such a good racehorse,” says Gary, as he stands next to the 4yo bay son of Maine Chance Farm’s stallion Querari. ‘KJ’, as Kangaroo Jack is affectionately known around the Alexander barns, is owned by Mrs Joyce Wallace, whose late husband is listed as his breeder, and he is the first horse trained by Gary, for the Wallace family. His dam is the 5 time winning bay mare, Rainbow Flag (by Model Man), who was bred by Swynford Paddocks, but also owned and raced by the Wallace family.

Kangaroo Jack made a rather inauspicious debut in July 2015, down the Turffontein Standside straight, where he finished 6^th, just 5.30 lengths behind the winner. But this would be the only time he has finished further back than 1^st or 2^nd, in all the rest of his eight starts. Gary is nonplussed by the run, and says, “I never push my babies early on. I like to give them a chance to find their confidence in races. He was quite green in that first start, and looking back, he probably needed the run.”

Exactly two months later, he lived up to the promise he had shown in his work back at home, and found the Winner’s Box in just his second attempt, but this time over 1200m on the Turffontein Inside track. Gary decided to try Kangaroo Jack over a 1450m in his next start, and he finished a gallant 2nd to Dakiwe, who is, coincidentally, a full brother to another Alexander stable star, Champagne Haze (as well as a half-brother to another former stable star, Pierre Jourdan). Kangaroo Jack followed that win up, with another two second places, over 1450m and then 1600m.

But in March 2016, he was entered into a 1200m on the Turffontein Inside course, and he cruised home by 3.75 lengths under Anton Marcus, as his regular jockey Andrew Fortune, was on a short suspension from race riding. Gary was not surprised by the ease with which he won, “I think, at the moment KJ is most effective over 1200m, but Andrew thinks he will go further, and will be competitive over 1400m to 1600m as well, and I tend to agree with him.” They were both vindicated in their thinking, when Kangaroo Jack won next time out, emphatically over 1450m, but this time he carried 64.5kg! (It’s been hard to verify, but I think this may be the heaviest weight ever carried to victory by a South African racehorse, in the modern era!)

That gutsy victory was enough to convince Gary to take a chance, and enter Kangaroo Jack into the R400 000 Grade 2 Post Merchants over 1200m, at Greyville Racecourse, in June 2016, in the height of the KZN Champions Season. He drew very wide, which is not ideal on the tight Durban turf track, and he had to settle near the back of the field early on in the race. He was close to last as they turned to home, but he burst through the pack under Craig Zackey (who was deputising for Andrew Fortune, as he had to carry 54kg), and won unchallenged, and gearing down. It was a win full of merit, as he beat a field of some of South Africa’s most highly rated sprinters, including Red Ray, who won the 1200m Grade 1 Mercury Sprint, in his next start!

Gary tells us more about that race, “His exceptional temperament is what helped him win that night. It was the first time he had ever travelled in a float to a race. It was his first race away from his home course Turffontein.” He arrived at Greyville relaxed and calm, after the 7 hour float journey. Gary continues, “It was also KJ’s first race under lights, so he had a lot of new experiences to deal with. But none of that worried him that night. My brother Dean saddled him at Greyville, and he said he was a pleasure to saddle, even in a strange new place.”

Gary Alexander and Kangaroo Jack

On 3 September Kangaroo Jack lined up for the R250 000 Grade 3 Spring Spree Sprint over 1200m on the Turffontein Inside course. He was coming off an 11 week rest, following his successful raid to Durban. He carried top weight of 61kg, and Gary says he wasn’t even fully fit, “I was using the race to bring his fitness on.” Andrew Fortune placed him beautifully on the rail, in 3^rd position around the turn, and coming into the short straight, he was waiting to pounce. But it didn’t all go his way – the false rail was only a couple of metres deep, and he found himself trapped behind two horses, with no clear path to make his run. But the typically unfazed Fortune could feel what he had underneath him, and the moment he saw a flash of daylight between those two horses, he aimed for the gap and burst through to win going, away. That was Kangaroo Jack’s fourth win in a row, and second stakes win.

You just can’t help but be a little impressed by Kangaroo Jack’s tenacity and talent; he’s the ‘full package’ as far as racehorses are concerned. Gary describes him variously as “Athletic, well balanced, and a natural galloper. He moves well and he settles easily in a race, which makes things easy for the jockey.” This is why he feels that Kangaroo Jack’s latest merit rating of 113 won’t be too much of an issue. The only other 4yo, in South Africa, who has a higher rating, is the public darling and Triple Crown victor, Abashiri, who is rated at 117. “We will stick to the Weight For Age and Conditions races for now, and avoid the handicaps, so he won’t always have to carry top weight. We’ll probably be running him in the WFA Gr2 Joburg Spring Challenge over 1450m here at Turffontein, on 8^th October. Depending on his performance there, we will decide which route to take race wise, whether to keep him over the sprint distances, or to go further.”

Kangaroo Jack’s half-sister, a filly by Lateral called Sha-Boom Sha-Boom is now also in the care of the Alexander team. She is not quite as forward as her illustrious older brother, but she will improve as she races more and matures. She’s only raced twice, and in her second start over 1450m she ran up a close 5^th place, finishing 2.25 lengths behind the winner. “She’s still maturing, and will win her races,” Gary tells me.

Gary is a versatile trainer, and has had Gr1 winners from 1000m to 3200m, but he has trained some very talented sprinters in the past. Tommy Hotspur, Ruby Clipper, Palace Man, Chief Editor, Flintlock, South Country, Rebel Knight and Arabian Mist were all multiple winners at the highest level. Does Gary train them any differently to the rest of his string? “Not really – I like to treat each horse as an individual. I look at their body weight and temperament, and go from there. Nothing is set in stone.”

Kangaroo Jack really is an impressive fellow in the flesh – you can’t help but to be a little in awe of his raw talent and nearly faultless conformation. I think we are in for a treat with his upcoming races, and he is definitely a horse to follow!