Ravishing good enough to mix it with the best

Elite driver David Miles is set to continue his relationship with gifted pacer, Captain Ravishing (Captaintreacherous) in Saturday night’s $300,000 Group 1 Sportsbet Victoria Cup.

The five-year-old is set to enter the Grand Circuit classic with just four runs under his belt after a 10-month spell.

The pacer finished seventh in last week’s Group 3 Smoken Up sprint behind eventual winner and hot favourite for Saturday night’s Victoria Cup, Leap To Fame.

“He was stuck parked in a 1.51-mile rate and it was only his third run in 12 months or so, I was happy in the run and he toughed it out – it’s not his go to tough it out but he did,” Miles said.

“He was probably good fresh as he was the other night and it was a pretty good run, and he is probably one of the few horses in Australia, if he did get the perfect sit he could probably beat a Leap To Fame one night.”

The Freddy Taiba-prepared pacer has drawn 13 for Saturday night’s $300,000 event.

“We just have to hope 13 is lucky for some,” Miles said.

“I don’t think you can attack with that many runners in front of you and you just have to see how they begin and take matters from there.

“If there is a spot, and we think we can get into it moving forward, we will do that.”

The almost cult figure and Melton 2240m track record holder has continued to grow since his return.

“He is a very special horse and he has unbelievable high speed and he has got rockstar looks and has had cult following since his first start and he broke a class record in his very first race start,” Miles said.

“It is an honour to link up with him and hopefully one day we can pinch a good race with him.”

Current $1.12 favourite with Sportsbet, Leap To Fame, and New Zealand Cup winner, Swayzee ($8) are the only runner in single figures.

Captain Ravishing is currently a $91 chance with the bookmaker.

The 2024 edition of the Sportsbet Victoria Cup is set to go at 9.07pm.

The October 12 meeting will be shown on Sky Racing, with a special free-to-air broadcast on Racing.com’s channels 68 and 78.

For complete race entries, click here.

by Lachlan Mitchell, for Harness Racing Victoria