History of Alec Laird  

Alec comes from a long line of horseman, dating back to 1911 when his grandfather,  Alexander George Laird won the illustrious Durban July as a jockey.

Alec's own father the legendary Syd Laird won the July seven times. Alec grew up with horses and is a natural horseman. To date he has saddled over a thousand winners of which he has won numerous Grade 1 races . The most prestiges races in the country, such as the Met, the July and the Summer Cup have all been won by Alec. His most memorable is winning the 1997 Hong Kong Queen Elizabeth II Cup with the horse London News, owned by Mr and Mrs Laurie Jaffee. Alec was the first trainer to tackle a major international race with a locally trained horse, which made way for other South African trainers to follow.  

Alec has a long association with stalwart owners, Mr Graham and Mrs Rhona Beck, Peter White , Jaffee family and Michael Javett.
Alec has some great young owners in the stable, to name a few, Chris Gerber, Pierre Joubert, Craig Clucas,  Mark Currie, Gavin Chamberlain, Johnny Gerber, Ron Boon, Tim Keating,David Abery, Jessica Slack , Ferdi Dippenaar, Justin Lowe and Dave Edwards.  It is good to see fresh blood coming into racing with such passion as these people. 

Alec is married to Kate and he has three children