David Thiselton
The July build up of 60 years ago was like no other before it and It is fitting that this year’s Hollywoodbets Durban July, carrying a record-breaking stake of R10 million, falls on such an auspicious anniversary date
In the month of May 60 years ago the great Sea Cottage began his July preparation by running in a race often used by Syd Laird as starting point for his best July contender, the Gr 1 Newbury Stakes over 1200m.
Sea Cottage beat another famous horse in the 1966 Newbury renewal, the previous year’s Gr 1 SA Guineas winner William Penn, whose story bears repeating.
Willaim Penn had won six Grade 1s up until being retired to stud in 1969 and was a July runner up by half-a-length in 1968, carrying topweight and giving the winner Chimboraa 24 pounds.
His wins included the 1968 J&B Met with topweight. He was two-one up in meetings between himself and his more celebrated half-brother Hawaii, who went on to become USA’s Champion Grass Horse as well as a successful sire, standing at Claiborne where he produced 25 stakes winners including Epsom Derby winner Henbit. William Penn proved infertile at stud, siring only nine foals, although they included three stakes winners. He was brought out of retirement as a ten-year-old and the first run of his comeback was in the J&B Met of January 1972. He flew up for second, three lengths behind the winner Force Ten to whom he gave 18 pounds. He went on to race successfully until he was eleven, the best performance of his final season being a 0,2 length second to the great In Full Flight in the Grade 1 Champions Stakes over 2000m at Greyville, beating another champion, Mazarin.
Back To Sea Cottage who was back at Greyville a week after the Newbury Stakes to win the Gr 1 SA Guineas by 3,5 lengths, his eleventh career victory in just 12 starts.
Six days later the country woke up to shocking news.
On that bright Friday morning Sea Cottage had been shot while walking under the Blue Lagoon bridge on the way to the Syd Laird ring on the beach.
The story is well documented with the shooter Johnny Nel being apprehended later the same day. The well-known gangster had foolishly used his easily recognisable yellow-coloured convertible to drive to the shelter on the south side of the bridge, which is still the same structure today as it was back then, to perform the dastardly deed.
He was allegedly acting on behalf of bookmaker Sonny Chislett, who had allegedly approached the owner of the Monaco Club, Monty Labuschagne, with the news that if Sea Cottage won the July he would have to close his business and therefore he demanded the debt he was owed by the latter be paid up.
Labuschagne’s alleged response was what would it be worth if they stopped Sea Cottage from winning the July and Chislett’s alleged response was that he would forego the debt.
It was Nel, a bouncer at the Monaco club, who hatched the plan.
If Nel can be forgiven to any extent it was in his later testimony that he had found it difficult to shoot an animal and had deliberately aimed for the soft flesh of the hindquarter in order to not kill him.
Syd Laird was still able to nurture Sea Cottage through the worst of the injury and he had him ready to run in the July three weeks after the shooting.
The big bay unfortunately suffered interference at a crucial stage and ended up running a four length fourth.
It was a bitter-sweet day for Laird because Sea Cottage’s six-year-old stablemate Java Head won the race.
However, the following year saw the July’s most celebrated renewal.
The 1967 SA Guineas winner Jollify, who was receiving 27 pounds from Sea Cottage, stole a march at the top of the straight under a fine ride by John Gorton.
Sea Cottage had a lot of ground to make up, but began eating up the ground.
He had to get around King Willow, who was going straight, before the natural instinct of shifting towards the leader, was able to happen.
A flying Sea Cottage with his enormous stride bore down on the three-year-old, despite the latter showing no signs of stopping.
The two Birch Brothers-bred horses flashed past the post together.
But had Sea Cottage got there in time?
Commentator Ernie Duffield thought not and said, “I think Jollify has held on.”
Minutes later the on course crowd let out a roar when the numbers were put up together to declare a dead-heat.
But the rest of the country apparently had to endure an agonising wait for news as the radio commentary ended and they went back to the studio.
Craig Peters, who has by the way commentated 39 Julys, ten more than Ernie Duffield’s previous record of 29, recalled that day, at which time he was a young boy living with his parents in Mayfair, Johannesburg.
He said, “It was only sometime later on Pat Carr’s Forces Favourites program that we heard it was a dead-heat and I was absolutely elated (especially considering he had shed tears after Sea Cottage’s defeat the previous year). We saw the photo in the Stop Press and about two weeks later we watched the African Mirror footage of the race at the Drive-In. I remember also being at Sea Cottage’s last ever race, the Cutty Sark at Gosforth Park, which attracted a massive crowd. I watched by standing on the bonnet of my father’s car.”
“The immortal” Sea Cottage won twenty of his 24 races and there was still a reminder of him nearby at Hollywoodbets Greyville until recent years.
Syd Laird had always been terrified somebody would “get to” Sea Cottage and had metal plates fitted over the air vents on the road side of his stable.
His old stable served as a vendor stall in recent times at The Stables Lifestyle Market next to the Hollywoodbets KIng’s Park rugby stadium.
His stable was the third one down from the main entrance.
Those rusty metal plates were still in place across the air vents on the roadside of the stall until the closure of the market in March 2020.
Sadly, the building soon became completely dilapidated and an intriguing piece of Durban history went down with it.
