Young horses seek a dusting of Sea Cottage stardust Mike Moon
Trainer Syd Laird and Sea Cottage. Picture: Facebook Sea Cottage was voted the GOAT (Greatest of all Time) racehorse in South Africa last year, when the coronavirus halted racecourse action for a while and racing devotees found themselves with little to do but reminisce.
Remarkably, given his legend, the only other memorial to Sea Cottage is a race in his name, run each year in January at Turffontein – a track on which he never set foot.
The Grade 3 Sea Cottage Stakes for three year olds, over 1800m, is the headline event of this weekend’s South African racing calendar.
Image for illustration. Picture: Tracey Lee Stark
Tough decisions have been foisted upon South Africa’s intrepid knights of the irons by the latest coronavirus lockdown rules, which oblige them to select one of four provinces in which to base themselves and race for most of the month of January. The jocks have not taken this decree lying down – first pleading, in vain, with the National Horseracing Authority to have a heart and relax its new rule, then threatening High Court action, citing restraint of trade and restriction of livelihood etc. Racing officialdom is standing firm, for now, understandably jumpy about a Covid-19 outbreak sullying the game’s.