Gear change to see Wave roll in

Harness racing trainer Andy Gath expects a crucial gear change will see buzz Catch A Wave (Captaintreacherous) return to winning form at Melton on Saturday night (Aug. 27).

A combination of a gear malfunction and Catch A Wave’s own quirks saw him beaten for just the second time in his 11-start career when he returned from a spell in a heat of the Vicbred Championship at Melton last week.

“He’s been racing in pull-up blinds and the nearside one broke and stayed down during the race. I’ve got no doubt he was going to win, until he layed in and didn’t finish it off because the blind was down,” Gath said.

“He’s got history. The only other time he got beaten, he raced in an open bridle and also laid in and cost himself winning at Geelong.”

So, Gath and wife, Kate, have dispensed with the pull-up blocks and replaced them with fixed (block) blinds for Saturday night’s $30,000 final and beyond.

“He’s unique and quirky and he needs the blinds, so we’re taking all the risk out of it and using fixed blinds. If the pull-ups broke once, it can happen again and we can’t take that risk with so many big races ahead.

“We know he overraces in the blinds, but that’s just him. He needs them.”

Catch A Wave moves from the back row to outside the front in his quest to turn the tables on Giveitatry (gate three) in the final. Both pacers are owned by Richard and Pauline Matthews, but Giveitatry is trained and driven by Chris Lang.

“We’d actually have preferred the back row to keep educating him, but now he’s drawn the front you know he’ll get keen and want to charge off the gate, so we’ll be going forward in a hurry looking for the lead,” Gath said.

“Apart from his last 50m and not winning last week, we thought his run was fantastic and he should  make amends this time.”

Then Gath turns his attention towards the Victoria Derby series, starting on October 1 at Melton.

Gath is also optimistic Catch A Wave’s older half-brother, Yambukian, can be a major player in the seventh race at Melton on Saturday despite a wide draw (gate seven).

“Rock N Roll Doo (gate three) is obviously the one to beat, but he can be a bit hit-and-miss as far as early speed goes, while Yambukian can fly the gate. We’ll be coming out running and if he happened to find the front, he’d take a lot of beating,” he said.

Exciting trotting mare Vatican Hill (Muscle Hill) looks the one to beat for Team Gath in the last race, the second heat of the Tornado Valley series, named after their former champion trotter.

“She’s a different mare in front, as she showed last time,” Gath said. “She should lead again and even though it’s the longer 2240m this time, I don’t think it will worry her. We’re aiming towards the Inter Dominion with her.”

Team Gath’s top trotter Majestuoso (Majestic Son) is just back in the stable after a stint of water-walker pre-training.

“We just weren’t happy with him so we gave him a break,” Gath said. “He’s back here jogging, but we can’t afford anything to go wrong if we want to run in the Inter Dominion.

“That’s where we are headed and we’ll be happy to go into first-up if that’s how the timing goes.”

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by Adam Hamilton, for Newscorp