Joey Ramsden holds a strong hand with Cold As Ice, currently at the top of the boards, and ample back-up in Grey Light, both in with big chances. Sean Cormack deputised for heavy-weight Bernhard Fayd-Herbe in a Graduation Plate victory last time out but today’s field is a lot tougher.

Glen Kotzen has been waxing lyrical about his recent Diana Stakes winner Double Whammy who made all to beat the older and more than useful Lanner Falcon in that race. She had the better of Cold As Ice when shedding her maiden but while the latter was making her debut Double Whammy was having her second outing. There should not be very much between the two.

But they may all have to take a back seat to the hitherto unbeaten Jet Set Go. Vaughan Marshall’s runner quickens nicely, goes the trip and has a plum draw. She meets a strong field but can stake her Guineas claim.

The Highveld is girding up for the Sansui Summer Cup at month’s end and although there is no feature at Turffontein today punters are faced with some seriously competitive racing.

The Greyville turf track is slowly being brought back into action after a lengthy spring treatment and the last two races tomorrow afternoon will be on new turf including the KZN Guineas Trial where some promising sophomores line up in this Listed event over a “mile”. Likely ante-post favourite is the Charles Laird-trained Split the Breeze that has his first test around a turn and over 1600m after showing some smart form over sprints.

Split The Breeze started his career with Luiz Cunha, giving the fledgling stable their first winner, but a dispute over ownership resulted in a change of colours and trainer with Alesh Naidoo paying a handsome sum to acquire the colt on auction.

Naidoo was not bidding blind however, as Laird’s stable jockey Anton Marcus had partnered the colt in his last two outings for Cunha and no doubt would have had some input into the decision to buy the horse.

Split The Breeze waltzed home when blinkered for the first time in a feature, one of the last races ever run down the Clairwood straight, making all the running to win by over four lengths. That victory, some four months back, garnered him a rating of 97, the highest in tomorrow’s field and the fact that he has the added advantage of  Marcus aboard one would not bet heavily against him.

KZN Champion trainer Duncan Howells has had a relatively quiet start to the current season but has not had a happy time of it on the poly. However, his runners are always thereabouts and he is one trainer who will be relieved that the turf is back in use. He saddles the promising Easy Lover from an inside barrier. In Easy Lover’s favour is that he has gone close over 1450m before and came with a rattle to land the spoils at his last start when catching the hard-knocker Flyfirstclass on the line. I doubt that he has stamina limitations and he looks a live threat to Split The Breeze.

Since his return from the UK, Mike de Kock has upped his stable’s ante and his runners are winning all over in what appears to have been a well-planned strategy. He saddles two runners tomorrow with Trip To Rio looking the stable elect judged on the riding engagements. The colt won comfortably enough in handicap company under Delpech over the stand side Turffontein 1600m last time out and although he meets a better class runner tomorrow he is a must inclusion in all exotics.

Stable companion Casciano has yet to finish out of the first two in four stabs that include three outings on the poly. Although he beat a modest handicap field last time out, he also beat the well regarded Riff Raf when shedding his maiden and the latter franked that form in no uncertain manner.

The dark horse is the Garth Puller-trained Fortissimo. Friendless in the market on debut, he came with a telling late run to slam the promising Alghadeer on the poly. It was a smart debut and any market support must be respected.

However, given the combination of Laird and Marcus, Split The Breeze looks the right one but expect Easy Lover and Trip To Rio to be chasing hard.

A Pinnacle Plate rounds off the eight-race meeting where another Laird inmate Admiral’s Eye, also in the colours of Alesh Naidoo, could have the wood on her male rivals. She is rated 4kg superior to the best of the opposition and is in very good form. She made all the running to win her last start and although the margin was less than a length it was a rather cosy victory. That was her first run on the poly and although she takes on stronger she has a handy weight from a good draw.

Interesting will be the performance of Gold Onyx. Although this trip is on the short side, Sean Tarry’s runner loves Greyville and given his aging legs, the new turf could just bring out the best in him.

“It’s going to be a great race,” enthuses Glen Kotzen  whose Double Whammy is the only Graded winner in the field and who led throughout to gamely shrug aside all challengers in last month’s Lanzerac Diana.

Indeed the quality of the line-up has persuaded him to change his plans, particularly with the filly being faced with the worst of the draw. “We are going to have to ride her forward. We were going to tuck her in but I don’t think we should do that now.”

Double Whammy is officially rated just over two lengths better than Cold As Ice but the latter was having her first race when the two met three months ago and the way she won a 1 200m handicap last week suggests she is the one they all have to beat – even over this extra furlong.

Her dam Viva won seven races including the Champagne but nothing beyond 1 200m and, according to Kotzen who trained her, she was an out-and-out sprinter.

“I think Cold As Ice will be alright over 1 400m,” says Joey Ramsden. “Indeed I’m not worried about the trip although I might be over a mile.”

Jet Set Go is the only unbeaten horse in the field and she won the last of her three starts with ease over the trip at Durbanville last month. So, can she beat the other two? “Wait and see on Saturday,” was all I could get out of a smiling Vaughan Marshall, seemingly intent on playing his cards close to his chest.

The bookmakers, though, believe he doesn’t hold the ace and Betting World yesterday opened his filly at 3-1. Double Whammy is second favourite at 5-2 and Cold As Ice heads the market at 18-10. It’s worth noting that favourites have won all the last four runnings and six of the last seven.

Justin Snaith has won this four times in the last seven seasons and  is rueing the knee-breaking injury suffered by Red Disa who he is convinced was so good that she worked with In The Fast Lane. Instead he is putting blinkers on three-time winner Harvard Crimson (12-1).

“She takes a bit of a ride and you can’t be sitting there pushing your horse along in a race like this,” he explains. “But it’s going to be tough.”

The highest-rated horse is Grey Light who was odds-on when beaten by the year older Acrostar on her return 13 days ago and is surprisingly short at 4-1 here. “She didn’t receive the full weight-for-age allowance and I wasn’t that disappointed,” says Ramsden. “But this is way too short for her.”

Stable companion Thaler Point (40-1) is there in the hope of picking up black type and Grant van Niekerk has chosen 16-1 chance Inara from Mike Bass’s three. But their trainer says: “Mine are more milers and I will be surprised if I win this.”

Dancing Natasha has been scratched as she gave a couple of coughs after working yesterday. “Disappointing,” says Alan Greeff. “I thought she was capable of running into the money.”

So which will it be? Pedigree and ratings are against Cold As Ice and the favourite sequence must be getting ominously close to breaking point but, even so, Bernard Fayd’Herbe’s mount still looks the one.

Picture: Double Whammy (Liesl King)

The four-year-old, who had a merit rating of 105, won his last three starts for Glen Puller and son Chris, and really came into his own when front -runnning tactics were adopted. He was also second in the Winter Guineas.

The Dolf Maeder-trained maiden Roventas, second in his last four starts, has also been sold to Mauritius. He will join Ricky Maingard.

Picture: Reim – Christopher Puller (Liesl King)

Stating  “personal reasons”  his resignation is effective from next January and he will be taking up a new position overseas. McGillivray has over 25 years’ experience as a stipendiary steward and will be sorely missed as the NHA have without doubt upped their game since his appointment.

After returning from an overseas stint, he had noticed that standards had slipped and immediately set about reversing the trend.  The stipendiary reports for each racemeeting have been much more detailed since his appointment and other improvements, such as providing information to the public as soon as possible after a race, have been implemented.

The NHA have also taken a noticeably tougher stance in out of competition testing for performance enhancing substances and on “non-triers”.

He said of the information dissemination, “It is important to be proactive. For example, if a horse bled, the information must be disseminated as fast as possible as it could put out a spark before the fire. Sean Parker (the chief stipendiary steward  in KZN) has been very good at getting this sort of information out quickly. We have spoken to the television producers as we would like to get important stipendiary information out consistently between races.”

On out of competition testing, he said, “It is very important to level the playing fields and the more this can be achieved the better it is for racing. An increase in out of competition testing is definitely the way the world has been going in all sports.”

Raids on yards are being done unannounced nowadays, although in the interests of fairness and transparency the stipendiary stewards will always wait for a trainer or assistant to be present before, for example, extracting a blood sample from a horse.

McGillivray’s pet hate is form inconsistency and he has given a recent directive to clamp down in this regard.

He said, “A trainer saying that the explanation for a below form run is that the horse ‘needed the run’ is not acceptable. Saying that it was the horse’s first run after a layoff is not going to help the punter who backed it at 5/2. Maybe in this sort of case we need to watch a horse gallop before it can be allowed to run again. We have an obligation to the punting public and a horse must arrive at the races fit. We also need to determine whether the excuse is what the trainer really means. These are the sort of run of the mill things we must chip away at.”

Objections are another aspect where consistency is vital. Workshops are held every couple of months in which all of the stipendiaries around the country go through all of the recent objections in each centre together, although this was implemented before McGillivray took charge.

During McGillivray’s control, there have been some heavy penalties dished out under rule 62.2.1 which states that a jockey should take all reasonable and permissible measures to ensure that a horse is given a full opportunity to win or obtain the best possible placing. McGillivray has praised the stipendiary stewards in all South African racing centres for their support and efforts in implementing the improvements.

He said, “The NHA had been through a tough time as we have lost a lot of talent in a short period and in this field they are not easily replaced. It takes several years before a new employee in such a position can reach the required level. However, in all centres there has really been an effort to up the game and their support for the changes we have tried to implement has been fantastic.”

The stipendiary stewards of yesteryear are often remembered and reminisced about and statements such as “it would never have happened when he was chief stipe” are common place.

However, McGillivray touched upon how different the world was 25 years ago. He pointed out that two key aspects of society, discipline and respect, have changed for the worse and as a result life was generally a lot tougher these days.

He said, ”You just have to look at the way people dress to go to the races these days and you can also look at something like the July objection. There were three highly qualified stewards making that decision and that was their opinion, so you don’t have to agree with it, but it should at least have been respected. These days people have a tendency to get personal and to sling off.”

McGillivray first joined the NHA, then known as the Jockey Club, in 1987 when taking up a position in Port Elizabeth before moving to Durban and then Johannesburg. He took up a position in Malaysia in 1996 and returned for a stint in Cape Town in 2006, before going back to Malaysia in 2009. His stipendiary roles in Malaysia and Singapore included the senior position of Professional Racing Steward.

McGillivray is strong in his views on the obligations the NHA have to punters knowing that the happier they are the better it will be for the industry.

He has provided help and direction to the stipendiary stewards underneath him and the respect he has earned from the latter is one reason why his all too brief reign has made a difference.

In 2013 Bloodstock South Africa’s (BSA) Emperor’s Palace Ready To Run Sale held annually at the Thoroughbred Breeder’s Association (TBA) complex at Gosforth Park returned an aggregate of 47,560,000 from 248 lots catalogued. At this year’s sale, which was held on Sunday, the aggregate was R22,440,000 from 125 lots catalogued. Meanwhile, the Cape Thoroughbred Sales Ready To Run Sale, held at the Inanda Club in Sandton on Friday, returned an aggregate of R24,680,000 from 146 lots sold.

Therefore, the two aggregates combined yielded R47,120,000, slightly down on last year despite there being 23 more lots in total catalogued. However, the BSA sales had only 94 lots sold this year (6 lots withdrawn, 12 unsold and 13 vendor buy backs), compared to 229 sold last year (6 withdrawn, 1 unsold and 12 vendor buy backs), so their average price actually increased from R207,686 last year to R238,723 this year.

The CTS sale had 138 lots sold and their average price was R178,841. The BSA’s median was up to R150,000 from R140,000 last year, while the CTS’s median was R90,000.

At the CTS Sale Derek Brugman’s Mayfair Speculators, which invariably represents perennial champion owner Markus Jooste,  were the leading buyers, purchasing 17 lots for a total of R7,315,000. This figure represented 29,6% of the Sale’s aggregate. Summerhill, who pulled their draft off the BSA Sale at around the same time that CTS announced their new Johannesburg Sale, were the leading vendor. Their 104 lots fetched R18,260,000.

Brian Burnard

The leading buyer at the BSA Sale was Brian Burnard, who is Summerveld trainer Gavin van Zyl’s chief owner. Burnard bought four lots for an aggregate of R2,295,000, which represented just 10,2% of the total Sale’s aggregate. The leading vendor was Balmoral Stud, who sold 57 lots for R15,685,000.

At the CTS Sale, Mayfair Speculators bought the highest priced horse, lot 76, a Var colt who is a half-brother to the Gr 2 Gauteng Fillies Guineas winner Go Indigo. This Summerhill-consigned colt impressed at the breeze up gallops at Summerhill, where he really stretched his toe out. Mayfair Speculators had to go to R1,6 to secure him.

The highest priced filly at the CTS Sale was an Australian-bred by Redoute’s Choice out of an unraced mare by Dehere, lot 108, who showed off her huge action at the breeze ups. Her third dam is the Epsom Oaks winner Moonshell and she looks to have plenty of scope. She was bought by trainer Mike Azzie’s chief owner Adriaan van Vuuren for R1,2 million.

The other lot that reached over R1 million at the CTS Sale was lot 10, a beautifully-bred Captain Al filly, who is a half-sister to the Royal Ascot Kings Stand Stakes third-placed Sweet Sanette. She was consigned by Summerhill Sales and was bought by Mayfair Speculators for R1,1 million.

The most popular colt among the CTS breeze up panellists, lot 110, an  Australian-bred Encosta De Lago colt, was bought by Rainbow Beach Trading for R900,000.

The CTS sales topping filly was the joint most popular filly at the breeze ups together with lot 69, a Summerhill Sales-consigned Kahal filly out of a KIngmambo mare. The latter filly  was  knocked down to Rainbow Beach Trading for R400,000.

At the BSA Sale Alesh Naidoo bought lot 27, an Australian-bred colt by Bernadini, for the joint sales-topping price of R1,2 million. He is out of five time-winning USA-bred mare and his giant stride impressed many at the Yellow Star Stud breeze ups.

Brian Burnard went to R1,2 million to buy lot 35, a Captain Al colt, who is out of a half-sister by Kabool to Gr 1 winner Divine Jury and to the speedy Divine Jet.

John Freeman bought an Australian-bred Star Witness colt, who is out of the Gr 1 winning Zimbabwean-bred Goldkeeper mare Battle Maiden, for R1,1 million.

Each of the sales companies will have their own Ready To Run sales race next year. The stake for the CTS sales race was recently increased from the original R2 million to R2,5 million. The buyer’s levy for this race was R7,500, and was compulsory, and the vendor’s levy was the same amount.

The BSA’s sales race will be run for a stake of R2 million. The buyer’s levy for the race was voluntary and was R10,000. The vendor’s levy was R8,000. All in all, it looks likely that both Sales will remain strong as the vendors and buyers that supported one or the other, or both, had little to complain about.