Trainer Profile: Eric Sands

While racing has a large element of luck attached to it, trainer Eric Sands firmly believes that there is no substitute for hard work. And he leads by example, by his own admission working “seven days a week”, and now into his 42nd year as a licenced trainer.

Racing is an industry unlike any other. There are not too many professions where someone still has the same passion for the career they’ve chosen to follow, getting up every morning while most people are in their beds, working over the  December and January “holiday season” and doing it after four decades.

“I can honestly say that I’m happy in what I’m doing,” says Sands, one of the wise older heads on Milnerton’s Koeberg Road stables complex. On the day that we’re chatting he has just welcomed Betway Summer Cup winner Atticus Finch into his yard, five days ahead of the five-year-old’s appointment in the L’Ormarins King’s Plate, the most prestigious weight for age mile in the land.

Sands doesn’t train Atticus Finch, nor does he have a runner in the Grade 1 race, but it’s testimony to his reputation as a master horseman which has seen Alec Laird’s five-year-old gelding arrive at the yard to spend his final few days preparation for the big race.

“I’ve never won the King’s Plate with one of my own horses, but I’ve had a few places and I’ve also looked after a few winners – including Legal Eagle – when they’ve arrived for their races in Cape Town. Via Africa is another and she won the Cape Flying Championship, while Smart Call won the Cape Met – all of whom I looked after in the build-up.”

Sands will long be remembered for the likes of Grade 1 winners Rainbow Bridge, Golden Ducat and a gelding who would now be 34, Flobayou. He was a champion sprinter who won 18 races, with Karl Neisius on board for 16 of those and Jeff Lloyd on two of them.

That roll of honour will immediately conjure memories for students of the game, and Sands is no different. “Karl had such an incredible work ethic, and some of today’s jockeys could learn so much from the likes of him and others of that generation,” he says. “Some don’t even bother riding work in the morning and then their agents phone up and ask for a ride!”

Over the years the two most successful riders for Sands in terms of winners have been Neisius and Greg Cheyne, while of the current crop Richard Fourie (25) and Sean Veale (22) have booted home the most winners associated with him.

“Richard is incredible. He studies form and offers great feedback about a horse. He is a gentleman and a credit to the sport, the consummate professional.”

With British champion Oisin Murphy making a lightning visit to partner the Justin Snaith-trained Royal Aussie in the King’s Plate, Sands applauds the move and recalls a similar venture by another giant of the British jockey ranks, Ryan Moore, in 2000. He came as a late replacement for Gavin Lerena aboard Rainbow Bridge in the 2000 Cape Met, where he was run out of it in the closing stages by MJ Byleveld on One World.

“There was a different level of professionalism to Ryan,” Sands reflects. “Within an hour of him being approached for the ride he had called back and accepted. In that hour he had studied Rainbow Bridge’s form and watched some of his races. When he arrived at Kenilworth he walked every blade of grass, crouching down, looking back, looking at all the angles and directions, the state of the track, checking where the horses are exposed to, and from, the wind and his feedback was such an education.”

I venture into asking the trainer what he thinks of the trend of jockeys taking their horses to the outside running rail at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth. “I have no idea why they do that. They used to in the old days, but now Hollywoodbets Kenilworth is the fairest course that you will find. Especially on the long run-in, horses can win from anywhere – the inside, middle, outside. This bunching on the outside is because when one jockey decides to go there the others follow.”

Sands had two runners carded for the L’Ormarins King’s Plate day and arrived at the meeting with seven winners for the season, despite producing three winners in December. That means he only had four winners for the first four months of 2024/25, and some way off his 2023/24 season return of 26 winners.

“I had a virus in the yard that didn’t show until the horses were put under stress. It was a particularly tough time, but we’re over that now. Now, my horses will run true to form, so there’s that for the punters to look out for.”

It’s almost a reset in terms of season’s objectives as we start 2025, although Sands will continue aiming high, despite the tough first few months of the season he endured. “Every day is a target for me,” he says whether he has a number in mind, considering his last five seasons have returned 26, 17, 15, 14 and 18 winners. “I have a monthly target and then I try to achieve over and above that. It’s a personal target I set, like in golf, where you have a par score.” 

His winners will have to come from a more streamlined yard. “Over the past eight to 10 years I deliberately downscaled. I now have 32 boxes. Some of my old staff have left and I haven’t replaced them. I’m very happy with the number I have in the yard. I love every horse, touch every horse and enjoy racing them. It’s an absolute pleasure being with such magnificent creatures. I’m content. I also put a lot of effort into my business which is exporting saddle pads and it continues to grow for me.”

Sands is also enjoying the advances South African racing is making, which includes the introduction of fractional timing and publishing the weight of horses. “When it comes to weighing though, there are inconsistencies and it could be handled better to give punters the chance to make up their minds about a horse’s fitness. There’s also plenty to be learnt when studying sectional timing, and it’s something I play close attention to.”

He also admits to being an avid follower of Hong Kong racing. “There’s so much they do right and the jockeys don’t get away with half of what they do in South Africa. They wouldn’t dare try some of the things they do here, over there. But it improves them so much as riders – the likes of Luke Ferraris, Lyle Hewitson and Keagan De Melo were always quality but now they’ve developed into truly world-class jockeys.”