Archie's decision to start training racehorses – in Ballarat, north west of Melbourne – comes as no surprise to those that have seen him learn the craft from some of the world’s most respected and successful trainers. 

As the son of Hamish Alexander, who bought Derby winner Generous as a foal and is now working with Goffs Ireland, there were plenty of sales catalogues throughout the house during his childhood and by the age of ten Archie had worked out the training caper was going to be his destiny. School holidays were spent riding out for champion jumps trainer Nicky Henderson in Lambourn. 

On completing school and, wanting to broaden his horizons, Archie relocated to France to work for Mr Alec Head at Le Quesnay before settling in Chantilly, where over the course of four years with Criquette Head-Maarek he became her assistant trainer.  

With the knowledge that experiences in a variety of racing yards are invaluable, Archie ventured to the United States to work with Todd Pletcher. As travelling foreman, his stints in Chicago, Keenland, Florida and a trip to Dubai with the World Cup runners exposed him to a completely different style of training. 

From the States, Archie settled closer to home with Mark Johnston in Middleham for three years where he held the position of Yard Manager, before a position arose with Aidan O’Brien at Ballydoyle to run a fillies yard. Archie – still only in his mid twenties – felt working for one of the greatest racing empires was necessary; especially given that it afforded him the chance to observe the master of perfection at close quarters. 

When Lloyd Williams invited him to become a foreman and take part in the training of his large European team, in Melbourne, Archie jumped at the chance. There, Archie saw Faulkner win the Caulfield Cup in the Spring of 2013 and a few other major successes.

Archie's work at Ballarat brings him closer to his goal: to become regarded as a leading trainer in Australia and abroad. 

He plans to mix the methods he's learned in Europe and Australia to create a winning formula. Ballarat is very peaceful and he believes this is ideal for the Racehorse. He's learned from the best and feels his ability as a horseman is high enough to compete with the best.

I really feel for Archie Alexander. He’s done the right thing but you pay a hell of a price for it with mandatory stable shutdowns that can last weeks.

These dramas are easy to avoid. Every horse now has a microchip and a passport. You see stewards waving scanners under the horse’s neck. They’re checking the horse’s passport microchip that pretty much tells the story of the horse; previous ailments, gear changes, the lot.

Mandatory inoculation should be part of the passport process.

It’s relatively cheap and requires one vaccination then a top up six months later; it’s cheap and absolutely necessary given strangles is a far more dangerous condition than Equine Influenza, which turned racing on its head about a decade ago.

I’ve been vaccinating my entire team for about seven years. Lots of other trainers do as well but it should be an industry requirement.

Strangles can spread like wildfire and when you think about the cross population constant movement of horses – from studs, mixing with racing populations – its remarkable we haven’t had a catastrophic outbreak.

Imagine a breakout at Flemington on the eve of the carnival. It would shut down the entire spring carnival.

Strangles is far more virulent than EI – the larynx becomes extremely inflamed, pussy abscesses pop up under the throat and a common biproduct is that the horse can become a roarer.

There was all of this hullabaloo about EI but trust me, strangles is worse.

And its not an occasional occurrence. It’s simply treated in-house and un-tested. Once you test your suspicions, you’re duty bound to report it and you end up where Archie Alexander finds himself; a stable shutdown on the eve of the spring.

BY: MICK KENT

In case this works, 4min i/view with Archie:

https://20943.mc.tritondigital.com/WHOOSHKAA_1719/media-session/afa2c6c7-10a7-48ba-8095-fc82f6bbccd5/podcasts/podcast_1719/podcast_media/5605cd-archie-alexander.mp3

or maybe

https://player.whooshkaa.com/episode/?id=269280