Trainer Profile: Mike Stewart

It is exactly 30 years since Mike Stewart took the four-year-old colt Fire Arch up to Johannesburg on the last Friday in March with the aim of running him in the Gr 1 Premier’s Cup at Gosforth Park the next day. That never happened – bad weather forced the postponement of the meeting by a week, and switched to Turffontein, to be held on yielding going.

Despite having Anton Marcus in the irons, and carrying 52kg, Fire Arch was ignored as a potential winner but came home best of all in the final 200m of a slow-run race to beat Forle Beacon going away. He never won again, but that Gr 1 success was his seventh career victory.

Stewart still chuckles when he recalls the milestone. “I had to leave him in Joburg for a full week, at that altitude, and having to run him in soft going. I was told I had no chance.”

One might have expected that owners would have noticed the significance of the training feat and sent their horses to a man who exercises his horses every day on the beach in Noordhoek, but he admits, “I’ve never had any real stars”.

A jovial character who has been known to land plenty of betting coups in his career, Stewart was born in London and lived in Ireland and Spain before moving to Cape Town when he was seven. He went back to Europe to learn his trade with Michael Stoute in England, Dermot Weld in Ireland and David Smaga in France. He then spent six years as assistant to Chris Snaith before starting on his own in 1988.

Stewart has saddled two winners this season – Hang Out The Stars and Golden Ideal – but that’s a reflection of his reduced string and also isn’t out of sync with his recent seasons, where he has sent out eight, six and four winners in the last three campaigns.

“I’m 70 in a couple of years and my back is, well, let’s just say it’s not in great shape. I can’t work my horses on the beach which is what I always did. But that doesn’t mean that you won’t find me at Noordhoek every day. I’m always on the beach or in my office!” says a man whose life has horses right at the centre of it.

“I’m down to 15 racehorses, which I train in three strings in the morning and finish up around 9.30, 10am. For the rest of it I offer tourists rides on the beach. I haven’t had to advertise but word of mouth has spread so much I’m up to about 20 rides a day.

“The horses are led to the water where they stand and pictures are taken of the tourists. That has basically become part of my day job.”

What else is part of that day job? “Actually, I’m doing a lot of rehab work with horses, and I’ve been working with a fair number recently. It’s always tough sending them back.”

One of them was Double Superlative who won the 2024 World Sports Betting Cape Met having spent many months under Stewart’s care, recovering from a career-threatening tendon injury, before going back to Justin Snaith and picking up the famous Gr 1 race.

“I do a lot of rehab work with horses from Snaith Racing,” says Stewart.

Snaith has been effusive in his praise for the work done by the Noordhoek horseman. “Mike’s R&R has always been our preferred equine rehabilitation centre. Their results have been phenomenal with horses that vets have little prognosis for. Mike and his team are miracle workers.”

Stewart however, remains competitive, but the “bad back” which doesn’t allow him to work his racehorses on the beach, is naturally meaning he’s increasingly gravitating towards the rehab and tourism side of the equine industry. “I don’t see it as work though – it’s a lifestyle. What more can one ask for? Horses, the beach, family, friends and laughter.”

He’s happy to be regarded as “a small trainer”, but he does stop to add, “I have a two-year-old called Demanding Dave. He’s not bad …” A sure sign that he’s not ready to hand in his licence just yet.

By Gary Lemke