Captain Ravishing to cross the country

A ‘chance’ phone call will see Freddy Taiba send Captain Ravishing (Captaintreacherous) across the country for a shot at the WA Pacing Cup on November 8.

Captain Ravishing will share a flight with WA harness racing up-and-comer, The Justin Prentice-prepared Never Ending (Sweet Lou).

“It was just by chance, I rang up and thought I might entertain the idea and just see if it works and by chance, Never Ending was leaving in a few days and I was able to get him on the same flight,” Freddy Taiba said.

“He flies out tonight (Oct 21) and I was just going through the program and there wasn’t a hell of a lot for him, and I have got him pretty fit and healthy.

“With him being a stallion, you don’t want to keep on turning him out and bringing him back in, so I thought we will give it a crack.”

Earlier this year, elite trainer Andy Gath made the trip west with star pacer, Catch A Wave to win this year’s Fremantle Cup with Taiba hoping to follow suit.

“I just thought I would take him over to WA and it has been proven that people can go over there and win the race, so we thought we might just have a crack,” Freddy Taiba said.

“There is a little bit of money behind it, but he is well worth it, I think.”

The five-year-old’s last run was in the 2024 Sportsbet Victoria cup where the Group 1 winner finished 10^th.

“He has pulled up a treat and had no luck around the Vic Cup,” he said. “They ran a time, and he was out the back and he done a few things wrong.

“He won’t be far off, and I think he will be right for the WA Cup.”

Taiba, 42, is hoping to have one run at Gloucester Park before the Grand Circuit classic.

“I should get a start, but I might give him a run the week before in the Navy Cup,” he said.

The horse out of Ravishing Girl might aim for another Group 1 title to round out 2024.

“We might give him a short lead-up after that and maybe tackle the Miracle Mile, that is the whole plan,” he said.

The pacer is set to miss the 2024 Inter Dominion.

“He is not a horse that can back up week-to-week, being a high-speed horse, we just thought we would opt this way and see where this leads up,” Taiba said.

Captain Ravishing has amassed over $545,000 in his 22 starts.

by Lachlan Mitchell, for Harness Racing Victoria