AUSTRALIAN Pacing Gold purchase Catch A Wave will need to buck a recent trend if he is to win Saturday night’s Miracle Mile at Club Menangle.
Trained by Victorian horseman Andy Gath, Catch A Wave earned his position in the $1million Garrards-sponsored event by securing the famed Chariots Of Fire at the world class venue a fortnight ago.
There lies the trend working against the rising star.
During the past decade only one ‘Chariots’ winner has managed to capture Australasia’s ultimate speed test – Have Faith In Me.
Co-trained by Mark Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen, Have Faith In Me was driven by the latter to complete the double in 2016.
Following their success in the four-year-old feature, Christen Me (2013), Jilliby Kung Fu (2018), Lochinvar Art (2020) and Expensive Ego (2021) finished second in the Miracle Mile.
Lazarus, Poster Boy and Bettor Eclipse won the Chariots Of Fire before running third in the prestigious sprint in 2017, 2019 and last year.
Overall only three other pacers have managed to win the pair of features, which have been run simultaneously since the Chariots Of Fire’s introduction to the racing calendar in 1995.
Holmes DG won the Chariots Of Fire in 1999 before returning to win the Miracle Mile as a five and six-year-old, Smooth Satin won the latter at five, while Christen Me was six.
TAB Fixed Odds have Catch A Wave listed on the third line of betting at $4.40 from barrier five.
Stablemates Honolua Bay and Captain Ravishing are battling for favouritism at $3 and $3.80 from gates four and nine.
Those who backed Catch A Wave earlier, however, will be “on good terms with themselves,” according to TAB’s Andrew Georgiou.
“We actually had him at $21 before the Paleface Adios Stake leading into the Chariots which then went to $31 after he ran fourth in that race,” Georgiou said.
“He then got out to $51 on the morning of the Chariots, but after he won, the price disappeared – and rightly so.
“Going back to December he was $34 when markets first opened, so futures punters much be on good terms with themselves.”
HOOFNOTE: Also an APG buy, Expensive Ego is among Catch A Wave’s rivals during the weekend, with the stallion drawn 10.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
Driving The Future Of Harness Racing
