LEGENDS: FILM AND VIDEO FOOTAGE SOUGHT

Following on from a "You Be The Judge" debate on the greatest middle distance horses to have raced on the South African turf over the past 50 years Aidan Lithgow has been working for over a year now on an elaborate historical documentary on the same subject. Some 30 horses will be included in this series and without re-opening a debate on the merits of the horses to be included I would like to appeal to anyone who might have relevant film or video material, or who know people who were involved with the horses in question, to advise me where this might be found.

We are already far down the line with this project, which will hopefully be released in DVD format before this year's National Yearling Sales, and then be broadcast on a suitable TV channel (one which is likely to attract attention from people outside racing's traditional sphere of interest).

Many fascinating personalities from racing's past have been interviewed for this series but please feel free to contact Jimmy Lithgow on 083 228 0791 if you can be of any help.

The list of horses (still subject to revision, but no correspondence will be entertained, as they say!) is as follows:
Colorado King
William Penn
Sea Cottage
Hawaii
Home Guard
Mazarin
In Full Flight
Elevation
Yataghan
Archangel
Gatecrasher
Sledgehammer
Politician
Bold Tropic
Model Man
Foveros
Wolf Power
Prince Florimund
Bush Telegraph
Ilustrador
Empress Club
London News
El Picha
Horse Chestnut
Ipi Tombe
Dynasty
Ilha Da Vitoria
Jay Peg
Pocket Power

Great stuff James, will have a look, sure I have a few on betamax in the garage.

That's the stuff, Scotia. Thanks. There must be loads of people with relevant bits and pieces lying around in garages or wherever. Fortunately, we've been able to "dredge" up a lot of wonderful racing characters who are no longer actively involved and it makes for riveting viewing, but the race footage has been more of a problem. What we need are some of those old canisters of 16mm film that they used to use for Stipes enquiries. Would you believe that all the old 16mm films of the Durban July, as produced by the then Durban Turf Club, went mouldy and were thrown on the scrap heap! Criminal!!

The pic you've posted was one from the collection of the late Ken Wilkens, which has now been entrusted, via Robbyn Ramsay and then Robin Bruss, to the TBA's archive, thank goodness. Charles Faull's collection has also been of great help. We have a huge amount of material on Sea Cottage, including marvellous African Mirror footage (at a cost levied by the SABC, which is the custodian of all of that), but there are difficulties with many of the horses of the 60's. 70's and 80's, before racing was covered on video.

If you go to a plot at the Maitland cematery in Cape Town I buried my father with all his old race cards race form computaform and heaps of photographs from the 60s 70s 80s and 90s along with a post dated cheque (he was hoping it was just a long sleep) I sure that it will all come in good use.

That gives me carte blanche to hire a couple of Bergies for an hour or two, does it, Chicken? Where exactly is that plot in Maitland? I'm that desperate.

I will find out but you must promise me that when they go in they must leave the old bugger a couple of castles just in case.

"the old bugger a couple of castles just in case".

or should be a case of castles if the old bugger should wake?

RIP

C and C obviously a punter to the end

I am sure that he was born with a racecard in his left hand a castle in his right and a blonde on his lap....or was that me?

Who holds all the Archive footage of South African racing? Tellytrack?

Its a good question Bob, before Tellytrack it was IGN but before that SABC used to show races.

We used to be able to buy a video highlights for the previous season 86/87 for example and all the main races were on it, cant remember who sold it? Thats the old videos I was looking for since my Betamax machine packed in.

lol