A Wave of success in the West

Andy Gath concedes he was a reluctant traveler as he loaded his stable harness racing star Catch A Wave (Captaintreacherous) onto the float for an ambitious trip to Perth three weeks ago.

“Stupidity made me go,” quipped Gath as he basked in the glory of The Nullabor and Fremantle Cup double with the son of Captaintreacherous.

Catch A Wave was denied the chance to defend his Miracle Mile title and an opportunity to contest the Race By Grins slot race through a minor injury.

Gath admitted he initially treated a potential trip west with a level of disdain.

“Adam (Hamilton) asked me if I was interested in the Nullabor slot race and I said ‘not really’,” he said.

The goalposts changed when star local pacer Magnificent Storm was injured and unable to take his place in The Nullabor.

“Rob Tomlinson, who owns Magnificent Storm, had a slot and asked I wanted to use it with Catch A Wave,” he said.

“He had missed out at Cambridge and there was nothing around for him at home and slowly things started to align, so off we went,” he said.

Gath said the arduous trip took its toll on Catch A Wave when he arrived in Perth.

“I’ll admit I doubted my decision to come but then he picked up a couple of days before his first run at Gloucester Park,” he said.

Catch A Wave’s ability to ‘back up’ was evident when he followed up his fourth placing in his WA debut with an impressive win in The Nullabor at Gloucester Park the following week.

A stunning win in last night’s Group 1 $300, 000 Fremantle Cup capped off a highly successful sojourn west for Gath along with his wife Kate and the Matthews family who race the horse.

Kate Gath eased Catch A Wave back to last from his wide draw before latching onto a three wide trail at the bell and ultimately powering home four wide for the last 600 metres of the race.

Catch A Wave’s mile rate of 1:55.7 for the 2926 metres eclipsed Smolda’s previous track record of 1:55.8 set in the 2016 Inter Dominion Grand Final.

Gath took the opportunity to strongly defend his flagship horse who has now amassed more than $2m in stake earnings from 23 wins in only 39 life time starts.

“He’s had his share of knockers, and they say he’s a short course horse and can’t stay but he’s just ran a track record for 2900 metres,” he said.

“And he’s backed up three weeks in a row because that’s what good horses do.”

by John Dunne, for Harnesslink