It’s been a stressful day for South African racing fans. We finally found out that there is no local racing while we are in lockdown level 4.
Reminiscing has become as favoured a pastime in serious racing circles as going to the races once was.
This evening , we invite you to watch two great finishes – we must caution that the quality of the first movie is not great – of the 1993 Gr1 Mainstay International at Clairwood.
Karl Neisius flies up on Flaming Rock and salutes after the line – but does it work out for the Cape legend?
Then here’s a look at the popular Jungle Warrior’s 1988 victory in the same race as favourite.
- Both clips are courtesy of Byron Forster
The race was sponsored by the famous cane spirit, and we recall Craig Peters’ famous shout as they jumped – ‘you can spin the blue top…!’
Established in 1954, Mainstay was our top-selling spirit in the 80’s.
In the 1960’s, a 750ml bottle sold for less than R3 and in the 70’s it could be bought for about R5.
A popular mixer was with coke – ‘spook and diesel’ – while a cane and cream soda was called a ‘green mamba’. Both made their names into our racecards on four legs.
Nothing lasts forever though and Mainstay disappeared from our shelves late last year, replaced by more expensive fancy brands.
