This year marks the 75th anniversary of the 1947 Royal Visit to Hollywoodbets Greyville, known in those times as The Durban Turf Club.
On the day of the Royal Charity meeting on March 22 the royals went straight to the members pavilion for lunch and left the course after the main race at 3 p.m.
It was fortunate they did leave early because a near riot broke out after the next race.
The jockey of the horse who most believed had won, the Pat Goss-trained Munda, returned to the ring to find he was not included in the placings.
The signalling of the “all clear” and declaration of the dividends so incensed the crowd that they refused to clear the course and the meeting had to be abandoned.
Officiating judge Charles Eisele was manhandled by some people from the members enclosure who broke into the judge’s box and smashed things up.
At an inquiry Eisele admitted making a mistake in not placing Munda, whom he said had similar colours to Man Of Art, who was officially placed second.
However, he was adamant that Mr AR Ellis’s horse Blatterella had won.
He said Pat Goss had aggravated the situation by taking Munda into the number one box.
“We cannot give way to mob rule”, said the stewards, who decided Goss should have his future nominations refused and that the other men known to have taken part in the riot be banned from the course indefinitely.
To avoid a similar fracas it had become essential to install photo-finish equipment without delay.
While waiting for this equipment to arrive from England a temporary photo-finish machine was hired at a cost of 100 pounds per day.
The 1947 visit coincided with the Durban Turf’s Club’s 50th year of existence.
King George the V1, Queen Elizabeth (known later as the Queen Mother) and Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret attended the race meeting.
The Queen Mother was known in England as a jumps racing fanatic and adopted the sport and raised its profile by owning many jumps horses.
Queen Elizabeth II is famous for her love of Flat Racing and one of the ways she survived recent lockdown was through an in depth daily read of the Racing Post.
She also of course races many horses in her famous silks, purple jacket with gold braid, red sleeves and a black velvet cap with a gold fringe.
The day before the 1947 royal race meeting, 30,000 children from schools in Durban cheered from the Greyville stands and sang and waved their union jacks as the royals were driven slowly along the track.
14-year-old Alizanne Orr of Durban Girls College was chosen to present a posy of flowers to Princess Elizabeth.
The following day the Douglas Saunders-owned Chesunt Hill won the King’s Cup and was presented with a gold King’s Cup by The King. The floating trophy had been ordered specially for the meeting and had the words “Donated by the Durban Turf Club to commemorate the visit of Their Majesties to Durban in March 1947.”
The Mercury article commented that it was as if Royal Ascot had come to Greyville because the royals stepped from the car, which had driven them around the racecourse, dressed immaculately.
The Royals also visited the course in 1925 and 1995.
The Prince Of Wales arrived in the Royal train in 1925 and was treated to a Gymkhana meeting that also included a hurdles race.
He later watched racing at its best on June 3, the second day of the winter meeting, from a marquee at Greyville from which 220 guests enjoyed luncheon.
He presented the trophies to the winning connections of the main race.
Around that time the Governor General of the Union Of SA and his wife Princess Alice used to travel regularly from Cape Town during his term in office to enjoy the Durban winter’s balmy weather and the top class racing.
After the 1994 democratic elections South Africa returned to the Commonwealth for the first time in 33 years and many plans were put in place for the royal visit of The Queen and The Duke Of Edinburgh to Greyville on March 25 the following year.
Included in the program were the Queen’s Nursery Stakes and The Kings Cup.
Alas the weather was so bad throughout their visit to SA that no racing was possible on the big day.
Nevertheless, The Queen and The Duke still arrived at the course to greet the thousands who knew there was no racing but dressed up to the nines just to catch a glimpse of Their Majesties.
The Queen walked alongside Durban Turf Club chairman Tony Stiebel in front of the adoring crowds whilst Tony’s wife Anne walked alongside The Duke (see picture above).
The occasion certainly provided a memorable moment for the Stiebels.
The Queen was given a new name in KZN, Motlalepula, which means “You come with the rain” or “Rain Queen.”
Source: The Centenary History Of The Durban Turf Club 1996
Picture: Kindly provided by Craig Ramsay.
