Alexander Cowe

Alexander Cowe

Born around 1877, Alexander Cowe and his younger brother Richard (born 1883) were northern-based National Hunt jockeys in the first decade of the 20th century. Richard rode eleven winners between 1903 and 1911 and rode in two Scottish Grand Nationals. Alexander had seven wins between 1902 and 1910. 

Alexander rode on the Flat for some years at the turn of the century but did not manage a winner. It was a different story over jumps, achieving his first victory by six lengths on Cashel in the Montrose Hurdle at Hamilton Park on March 31, 1902. The four-year-old was having his first run under National Hunt rules.

Over a year elapsed before Alexander doubled his score, with Athelfrith comfortably winning the Hamilton Park Handicap Chase on April 14, 1903. Athelfrith also gave him his only ride in a big race when they contested the 1904 Scottish Grand National, but they finished unplaced. 

Another eighteen months passed before Alexander’s next winner, with Threepmuir taking the Dalzell Juvenile Hurdle at Hamilton Park on November 19. He drew a blank in 1905 but was back among the winners on the second day of 1906, when Chieftain beat two rivals to take the Ross Chase at Hamilton Park. 

It should be noted that Hamilton Park’s racecourse was not the one in use today; that did not open until July 1926. The previous course had opened in July 1888, funded by a group of whisky magnates, who had already made a couple of unsuccessful attempts to organise a meeting in Glasgow. The course staged both Flat and National Hunt racing but was discontinued after 1907 because the Duchess of Hamilton decided that it was bad for the lower classes and refused to renew the lease on the land on which the course was located. 

With the closure of Hamilton Park, it was not until May 13, 1909, that Loch Sloy gave Alexander his fifth victory when landing the Bank Top Handicap Chase at Shincliffe. The seven-year-old did manage another win that year, at Perth in September, but this time Richard Cowe was in the saddle. 

Alexander’s last two wins came courtesy of Rosa-Mohr, who took the Blackhall Chase at Carlisle on Easter Monday 1910, then followed up in the Maiden Hurdle at Bogside (known in those days as Eglinton Hunt) ten days later. He did not hold a licence after 1911.

Alexander Cowe’s wins were, in chronological order:

1. Cashel, Hamilton Park, Maech 31, 1902

2. Athelfrith, Hamilton Park, April 14, 1903

3. Threepmuir, Hamilton Park, November 19, 1904

4. Chieftain, Hamilton Park, January 2, 1906

5. Loch Sloy, Shincliffe, May 13, 1909

6. Rosa-Moha, Carlisle, March 28, 1910

7. Rosa-Moha, Eglinton Hunt (Bogside), April 7, 1910