Captain Ravishing on target after strong workout

Trainer Ahmed Taiba insists Captain Ravishing’s (Captaintreacherous) TAB Eureka campaign is right on target after a harness racing workout between races at Melton last night (Jul 29).

It was the big and bustling four-year-old’s first public appearance since finishing seventh in the Miracle Mile on March 4.

New race driver Greg Sugars took the reins for the first time and gave Captain Ravishing an easy trip behind a pacemaker before easing him around that horse and dashing home the last 300m to “win” comfortably without being extended.

“LOOK AT THOSE LEGS GO!”@grsugars released the brakes and Captain Ravishing showed his explosive speed in a quiet but important piece of work between races at Melton a short time ago. All roads lead to the @eurekarace on September 2! pic.twitter.com/2FkY77XVMK

— The Trots (@TheTrotsComAu) July 28, 2023

“That’s exactly what we went there to do,” Taiba said.

“I took two main positives from it. He went really straight on the point of the turn when Greg pulled him out to come around the other horse and Greg kept talking about how good and fast he felt.”

Captain Ravishing, who has been renowned for hanging quite badly in some of his races, wore a Murphy blind last night.

“We used it in work for the first time last Tuesday and decided to leave it on again last night, but Greg doesn’t think we need it,” Taiba said.

“It’s got a patch on it that you can take off so the horse can see a lot more so that’s what we’ll do for his next workout.”

That workout will be at next Friday night’s Team Zav meeting at Geelong.

Although Captain Ravishing and Catch A Wave will head to Geelong, they won’t work together.

“We’re at different stages,” Taiba said. “Andy wants Catch A Wave to have a serious hitout and we just want our horse to basically repeat what he did last night. That’ll top him off for a trial.

“We’ll work Captain with another horse between races and Catch A Wave will work separately.”

Danny Zavitsanos, who has organised the night with his wife Jo, said their multiple Group 1 winner Mach Dan would be Catch A Wave’s work partner.

“He’ll ensure Catch A Wave has a strong hitout,” Zavitsanos said.

“It’s so exciting to have Captain Ravishing and Catch A Wave coming along – two of the major TAB Eureka chances – and Mach Dan will add some class, too.”

Taiba said he was sticking with the radical plan of not racing Captain Ravishing before the $2.1mil TAB Eureka at Menangle on September 2.

“He’s a speed horse and we’re training him to have all that speed for race night,” he said.

“If we’re going to win the Eureka, we think it’ll be by driving him for that speed, not going toe-to-toe with a few others.

“Everyone trains differently, but I think what’s best for this horse is to just trial him two or three times before the Eureka rather than racing him.

“After Geelong, we might trial him at Shepparton (Thursday week) and then go to Menangle where he can have two more trials.”

So, will Captain Ravishing, who hung at his worst at Menangle, race in the Murphy blind?

“We’ll play that by ear,” Taiba said. “Those two Menangle trials will tell us a lot more.”

by Adam Hamilton, for Harness Racing Australia