Gareth van Zyl comes out from under the wing of father Gavin and saddles his first runners under his own name at Greyville tonight. Gareth has long been the private trainer to prolific owner Brian Burnard but under the name of his father and he could make a winning start with two strongly fancied runners in Northern Storm and Celtic Captain, the latter in the Listed Jonsson Workwear Michaelmas Handicap.

Northern Storm steps out in a Qualified Maiden, third race on the card, and if the daughter of Noordhoek Flyer can produce the form that saw her finish close-up to A Womans Way and Querari Falcon in her first two starts then she should be difficult to beat in what stacks up into a pretty moderate field.

“It might be a bit short for her,” said Van Zyl. “But it’s not a strong field so I think she has a good chance.”

Her recent form on the turf has been disappointing but back on the poly, Anton Marcus aboard, and blinkers back on she is in with a big shout.

Michaelmas runner Celtic Captain was always up against it in the Grand Heritage over 1 475m at the Vaal where he carried 61,5kg in a 28-runner field. He raced handy for much of the trip but was left in the scrum when it counted most.

Prior to that he had made a cracking seasonal debut behind the smart sprinter Humidor. Celtic Captain was not too far off the best of his generation last season and he should more than hold his own in a field of solid handicappers.

“I think that he’s a runner,” concluded Van Zyl with some enthusiasm and who could well kick off his solo career with a feature victory.

Marcus is one jockey who was quick to master the poly surface helped by an impeccable judgement of pace. He will be aboard top weight Ashton Park who has threatened in both starts since arriving in KZN from the Western Cape, both in competitive Pinnacle Plates.

In his only foray beyond a mile the now seven-year-old finished five lengths back to champion Futura and Ice Machine in the Gr1 Champions Cup over 1800m at the start of last season.

The step up in trip may be a gamble but it may prove significant that Marcus is back aboard after the combination finished within a length of the winner Silver Spring over a mile at his local debut.

The grey French Revolution is one of the most handsome horses in training but his back mane and tail but he also counts four wins among his 20 starts. More to the point is that he has found form, finishing runner-up in his last two. He does come up against stronger here but the poly holds no fears and he is in receipt of 6,5kg from Ashton Park which will make him dangerous.

Princess Varunya arrived on the Highveld for their classic season off a string of four straight victories but her fourth in the Gr1 SA Fillies Classic was sandwiched between two indifferent performances in the Gr2 Gauteng Guineas and the Gr1 SA Oaks.

She was given a four-month break after the Oaks by Kom Naidoo and she returned to the track with a creditable sixth behind the well fancied Crackpot in a competitive filly’s handicap at the beginning of the month. She may be looking for some relief from the handicapper before being competitive again but she does have a shout. Champion trainer Sean Tarry was on song at Turffontein on Saturday saddling a four-timer.

With mostly poly track racing the order of the day for the next few months, whenever Tarry sends horses down from his Highveld stronghold one needs to take note, especially when it comes to his older runners. Stonehenge fits into that category and he makes his poly debut.

His recent Highveld form is nothing to write home about but given a plum draw and former champion S’manga Khumalo aboard he may be worth including in bigger exotic perms. Gavin van Zyl can make it a family affair on the evening when he saddles Arctic Swift in the opening leg of the Jackpot although the daughter of Var does face a stiff task in a competitive maiden.

The filly has only had a couple of starts and punters piled in at her second outing when stretched to a mile as she shortened from 14-1 to start 5-1.

Racing green for most of her trip around the turn she made little impression on winning favourite Joy To Joy. Arctic Swift is sure to have come on with the experience and with Marcus in the irons from an inside gate she has a lot to recommend her as Marcus has jumped ship from beaten odds-on favourite Florrick in spite of two close-up seconds on the poly. Marcus seldom makes mistakes so the inference is obvious. Van Zyl has a second string to his bow in the somewhat disappointing Black Hall Bar but stable rider Warren Kennedy has the ride.

Formerly trained by Neil Bruss, who recently took up a post in Saudi Arabia and who opened his account last week with a trio of winners, Black Hall Bar has flattered to deceive.

However, she did not have the best of draws when making her debut for Van Zyl and with a better gate this evening she could put one over Arctic Swift and Florrick.

Andrew Harrison