Jockey Alex Birzer

Born: 10/02/73, Hutchinson, Kansas

Resides: Council Grove, Kansas

Family: Bonnie, wife; Jordan LeAnn, daughter; Brett andCoby, sons 

Like the old William S. Hart melodrama, “The Man Who Came Back”, Birzer has returned. 

Once a familiar figure at Oaklawn, Alex has been away three years. 

“I have been riding at Will Rogers Downs in the spring. I won a lot of races, but no big stakes. Then I’d ride at Prairie Meadows and on to Remington.  Last fall I missed the opening weeks at Remington, but nevertheless, finished in the top tenin the final standings,” said Birzer.   

Alex is coming off some good years as a jockey at Oaklawn. He rode 18 winners here in 2003, including Patton’s Victory in the $100,000 Fifth Season. He moved on to Prairie Meadows where he and Patton’s Victory won the $75,000 Prairie Meadows Handicap and $50,000 Precisionist.  

Birzer had a good association with the very fast mare Answer to Jordan, a career earner of some $225,000. 

Asked to name favorites among horses he's ridden, Birzer  said, "Patton’s Victory, Answer to Jordan,  Maggie’s Dream,  Dynamic Asset,  Kilarney Blarney, Soup For Lunch and Cockabur Man.“           

Answer to Jordan is named for Birzer’s daughter. A horse named Til Brett is named for his son. A third child, Coby, helped make medical history. 

“Coby had to undergo open heart surgery at age of 14 days. He survived it well. Now, Coby is one and a half years and in fine health,” reflected Alex.               

Birzer’s wife is the former Bonnie Good, daughter of Dennis Good, a trainer who formerly raced at Oaklawn. 

“My wife and father-in-law formerly raced under the name of Monkey Business Stable. But the stable is now disbanded, because my wife runs a flower shop,” said the jockey. 

Alex is brother of Gary Birzer, the rider who was tragically paralyzed in a race fall at Mountaineer Park in 1904. 

“Gary’s spirits are good and he’s upbeat,” said Alex. “He is thinking positive and insists that some day sufficient advances in medical science will permit him to again walk.” 

Alex mentioned that he is of German descent. “Several generations back, a great-great grandfather came here from Europe and worked on the railroad. He stopped off in Dodge City, just in time to run for cover from a big shootout. So he exited town a ways and took a job with a farmer. He helped the farmer harvest a couple of crops and was given some acreage. He later homesteaded a parcel of his own and that was beginning of the Birzer clan,” the jockey told.