Young riding superstar Chad Schofield will return to the country of his birth to have his first ride in the Vodacom Durban July aboard the fancied Joey Ramsden-trained The Conglomerate.

It will be the first time the Australian-based Chad has ridden in South Africa. However, he is sure to receive plenty of valuable advice on the ins and outs of the tight Greyville circuit from his father Glyn, a top South African jockey who was based in Durban before relocating to Australia in December 2007. Furthermore, Glyn’s former riding agent Blane Hamilton has been attempting to secure more rides on the big day for Chad, so he should have had some feel of the course by the time the July starts. Hamilton confirmed Chad was very excited in anticipation of this opportunity.

Ramsden said these days it was becoming increasingly difficult to find lightweight jockeys and the connections had decided to begin looking around when no phone calls for the ride were forthcoming. He added they had considered a number of options on who to bring in, so the decision had not been made lightly. Ramsden said The Conglomerate had been doing very well at Summerveld. The three-year-old Australian-bred Lohnro colt is back in full fast work after being given a bit of a lighter schedule for a couple of weeks after his third place in the Daily News on May 30. The astute trainer should thereby have him peaking at exactly the right time. The Conglomerate was as short as 7/1 for the July after his impressive win in the Gr 2 KRA Guineas, but has drifted out to 14/1 in the face of support for the like of Legal Eagle and French Navy.

Glyn has ridden in seven Julys and his best finish was sixth on The Sheik in 2001. He benefitted enormously from a stint in Hong Kong about ten years ago and it was clear upon his return to South Africa that he had progressed into a world class jockey. In the next couple of seasons in South Africa he often outrode his colleagues simply through his peerless judgement of pace.

He has clearly been an inspiration to Chad, who took the Australian racing scene by storm after making his debut in 2010. Chad is the only jockey to win the apprentice title in both Melbourne and Sydney, a feat that is unlikely to ever be repeated. Still in his early 20s, he has already notched up a number of important wins, most notably aboard Shamus Award in the 2013 Cox Plate which provided him with his first Gr 1 success.

He added three more Gr 1s to his CV in 2014, the Newmarket Handicap on Lankan Rupee, the Champagne Stakes on Go Indy Go and the Queensland Derby on Sonntag. Injuries and suspensions have curtailed Chad’s time in the saddle but he is still very much in demand.  Last week he travelled to ride Australian trainer David Hayes’ New Zealand-bred raider Criterion in the Gr 1 Prince Of Wales’s Stakes at the Royal Ascot meeting. They finished a respectable 3,75 length fifth. He was also recently granted a six month license to ride next season in Hong Kong, one of the world’s biggest racing stages.

By David Thiselton

Picture: Chad Schofield

Sean Cormack rides in Cape Town for the first time in almost three months at Kenilworth on Saturday.

He has four rides for Justin Snaith including Master’s Eye in the Winter Derby, Macduff for Joey Ramsden in the Langerman, the Adam Marcus-trained Crystal Cavern in the Winter Oaks and Pirangi for Mike Robinson in the first. He landed a treble on his last visit including a win on Promicing Polly who he partners for Mike Stewart in the Conditions Plate.

Snaith, who has yet to win the Winter Derby, also runs Seize The Throne who has returned from Durban for the race and will be ridden by Richard Fourie.

Mike Bass, bidding to win the race for the sixth time, is also double-handed with Winter Classic winner Royal Dreamer (Greg Cheyne) and Seven Oceans (Robert Khathi).

By Michael Clower

Picture: Sean Cormack (Liesl King)

You don’t get many horses in maidens that have been placed in a Grade 1 and that alone makes Mystical Twilight a stand-out in today’s Welcome To Kenilworth Racecourse Maiden Juvenile.

MJ Byleveld’s mount was a 66-1 supposed no-hoper when less than six lengths third to Arabian Beat and Shaama in the SA Nursery but he had run well in a Turffontein maiden only a fortnight earlier. Furthermore Vaughan Marshall thought enough of him to start his Kenilworth campaign in this month’s Cape Of Good Hope Nursery had not a temperature ruled him out.

It will take something special to beat him (he opened 6-4 favourite with Betting World yesterday) even though this looks an exceptional maiden with several of the others also having strong form claims, notably 7-1 shot Nassa who was fourth to Fifty Cents in a big field on debut.

Aspara (14-1) also caught the eye first time but Richard Fourie dons the Sabine Plattner colours to partner 6-1 stable companion Nabisco instead. That is significant and not just because the R1.8 million Western Winter newcomer is out of the Gold Circle Oaks winner Sweetie Pie.

“Nabisco is a serious individual who could win first time out,” says Jonathan Snaith. “I think one of our two will win this.”

Giveusagrand’s debut fourth to Eighth Wonder was given a big boost by third-placed Forward Drive’s runaway win on Saturday but stable jockey Grant van NIekerk is on the 7-1 Trippi newcomer Heart Of Darkness.

“Grant had been away all week, Aldo Domeyer has been riding Giveusagrand (8-1)and he asked for the ride,” explains Candice Robinson. “I think Heart Of Darkness will need his first run.”

On the other hand the form of 10-1 chances Purple Mountains and Respectable Rebel was not boosted by Jeremy’s third to More Than Grand on Saturday.

Mamselle Al is equal top-rated with Glamour Gal in the Soccer 10 Maiden but Glen Kotzen’s filly comes out much better on a line through Gin For Genius. Also she would have finished closer last time but for suffering interference.

Noisette over-raced at Durbanville and opened evens favourite for the Rugby 10 Maiden but her lack of size is against her and the form of the well-drawn 28-10 chance Frenni makes slightly more appeal.

Gift Of Rain failed to quicken when ridden for speed last time and, according to her stable, hasn’t had a chance to have a gallop after suffering a setback. She opened at 8-10 but at the odds it might be worth taking a chance with Make The Magnet (3-1) in the All To Come Maiden.

Michael Clower won with three of his five selections on Saturday including the headlined Forward Drive, backed from 5-1 to 33-10.

Picture: Vaughan Marshall

The Vodacom Durban July Final Field and Draw ceremony will be held in the Classic Room at Greyville tomorrow (Tuesday) and the panelists tasked with choosing the final 18 runners with two reserves only look to have one tough decision to make this year. However, it will likely have the usual repercussions and being on this panel must be one of the most unenviable positions in racing.  

Their job this year has been made easier by the important scratchings of Legislate, Ertijaal and No Worries, who were all in the top 18 on the last July log.

However, realistically there are only five horses with claims to fill those three places.

The Equus Champion Stayer Hot Ticket is one of them, but he likely needed to win the Gr 2 Track And Ball Derby on Sunday to ensure his place. Instead he finished a narrow second. However, running in a 2400m event just less than two weeks before the July is not an ideal preparation anyway and this horse’s chief target is undoubtedly the Gr 1 eLan Property Group Gold Cup on Super Saturday. However, Hot Ticket could well be announced as one of the two reserve runners.

That leaves Ice Machine, Dynamic, Helderberg Blue and Mac De Lago and it is likely that the final berth will be fought out by the last three mentioned.

Ice Machine, who won the Gr 2 Drill Hall Stakes, was fancied for the Gr 1 Rising Sun Gold Challenge before unfortunately going lame somewhere between Summerveld and Greyville.  However, he was 19^th on the last July log and has done nothing wrong since, so should be an automatic to fill one of the three places. Some will claim he won’t stay the 2200m July trip, but he has won over 1800m and in his second attempt at the J&B Met over 2000m last year he ran on well for a 3,4 length sixth, beating the like of a No Worries, Wylie Hall and Hot Ticket, who all appeared on the last July log.

Dynamic, Helderberg Blue, Mac De Lago and Hot Ticket were all among the five horses listed in alphabetical order just outside the top 20 in that last log. They will all leapfrog the log’s 20^th placed horse Athina, who finished a tailed off last in the Gr 3 Cup Trial last time out and has duly been scratched. The fifth horse in the list just outside the top 20 was Unparalleled, who has also been scratched.

Dynamic was close up placed in all of the Listed Sledgehammer, the Gr 2 Betting World 1900 and the Gr 3 Cup Trial and beat Helderberg Blue in the latter two races. However, Helderberg Blue will be 3,5kg better off with Dynamic in the July for a mere 0,75 length beating in the Cup Trial (Dynamic carried 0,5kg overweight in that race). Helderberg Blue also comfortably beat Dynamic when finishing third in the Gr 1 J&B Met, although the latter was below par that day. Therefore, Helderberg Blue has just as strong a claim as Dynamic to make the final field.

The three-year-old Mac De Lago ran on very well for second in the Gr 2 KRA Guineas before staying on well for 5^th in the Gr 1 Daily News 2000. He is merit rated 104, three points higher than Dynamic and three points lower than Helderberg Blue. However, he is set to carry the same weight as Dynamic in the July of 53kg. Three-year-olds should receive 2kg in a true handicap over 2200m in July from older horses according to the weight for age scale. This means that while Mac De Lago will officially be 3kg under sufferance in the July, Dynamic will only be 2,5kg under sufferance, so it would be difficult to favour one over the other based on merit ratings.

Finding two places for those three horses is likely to cause much debate among the panelists and, despite there looking likely to be only one unlucky horse, the decision making process will probably bring on as many headaches as usual.

By David Thiselton