Top names of the past decades

When the Vodacom Durban July rolls around, everyone has fond memories of races past, winners backed, dramas and hard-luck stories.

Everyone has a favourite winner and a view on which horse was “the greatest”.

Sea Cottage always crops up – not only due to his incredible acceleration and 16 wins from 20 starts, but also because he was shot before the 1966 Durban July.

A crooked bookmaker, standing to lose a fortune if Sea Cottage won, hired a gangster to shoot the colt as he was exercising on the sands of Durban’s Blue Lagoon beach a few weeks before the big race.

The pistol bullet ripped into his soft hindquarter flesh and badly disrupted the horse’s July preparation – but he did run and finished fourth for trainer Syd Laird.

Heroically, Sea Cottage returned in 1967 to win the race – in a thrilling dead-heat with Jollify, to whom he was conceding 12.5kg in weight.

A later generation of racing fans idolises Politician, also trained by Laird, and insist he was the best ever.

Politician was described as “a peerless racing machine” after winning 18 races, including the July and the Cape Met twice.

Mowgli was a phenomenon, too. In 1952, he won six Grade 1s, including the July, in 12 weeks – over distances from 1 200m to 2 100m – with a serious breathing problem that saw him having to hold his breath in order to compete.

Ilustrador, July champ of 1990, also won a string of top races and is claimed to be among the greats. As do flying fillies of recent times Igugu, Ipi Tombe and Dancer’s Daughter.

Winning a July doesn’t automatically mean a horse is “a great”, though. Many phenomenal horses never won it, such as Horse Chestnut, Empress Club, Model Man, Wolf Power, Elevation and Hawaii – for one or other reason.

Here’s an 18-horse line-up of July greats. See if you agree:

Marinaresco (2017), Igugu (2011), Pocket Power (2008), Dancer’s Daughter (2008), Ipi Tombe (2002), El Picha (1999/2000), London News (1996), Ilustrador (1990), Politician (1978), In Full Flight (1972), Sea Cottage (1967), Colorado King (1963), Mowgli (1952), Milesia Pride (1949/1950), Glen Albyn (1928), Pamphlet (1918/1920), Corriecrian (1907/1908), and Camapanajo (1897/1898).