Longtime Keeneland starter Spec Alexander dies at age 80

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Robert Lee Alexander, best known as Spec, died Monday following an illness at age 80. Alexander served a lengthy tenure as the starter at Keeneland.

Tributes have been pouring forth for Alexander, who began his career in racing in the 1950s as an exercise rider before becoming an assistant starter in 1967 on the East Coast. Sometime in the 1980s, he became the head starter at Keeneland, charged with dispatching fields on their way with the press of a button.

“Spec was a Keeneland institution, an unquestioned master of his craft,” track president Bill Thomason said in a release this week.

The last meet for Alexander was the 2018 fall meet, with Raleigh Cox serving as starter at the 2019 spring meet.