Tim O'Connor
Like a powerful and unstoppable force Catch A Wave swept past all rivals to leave no doubt he was the king of his two-year-old colts and geldings’ class.
A rapt and emotional trainer Andy Gath and driver Kate Gath celebrated after their Mimosa Homes Breeders Crown win, having delivered loyal owners Richard and Pauline Matthews a much deserved Group 1.
“It’s been a long week, he deserves to win a big race and to get one for Richard and Pauline – I’m a bit emotional, when owners support you for so long, and to win a big race for them – I’m just rapt,” Andy Gath told TrotsVision.
“For them to give us an opportunity to race a horse like this, they spent good money on him at the yearling sales. They’ve owned plenty of horses, bred plenty and deserve to win a Group 1.”
It wasn’t without a touch of drama, with Catch A Wave, whose pre-race behaviour saw him out of the draw and handed gate 13 for the final, playing up again ahead of the $300,000 classic.
But the drama delivered a happy ending, with Catch A Wave settling in the running line before emerging with a tick under a lap to go, going head-to-head with a brave Flash Jimmy and then clearing out to win by 15 metres.
“When he (played up) in the warm up it was fair to say I had my work cut out (but) he went terrific,” Kate Gath said.
“To win a two-year-old pacing (Breeders Crown) – that’s the ultimate for me. So hard to do. To do it the way he did it was still pretty impressive.
“It’s not often you get to drive a horse like that in a race and it runs away from them in a 26.6 (last quarter). Often when you sit back, if they run a 54.5 half you nearly can’t win. It’s phenomenal what he did tonight and really exciting.”
It was also a huge result for breeders Benstud Standardbreds and Peter and Zilla O’Shea, who paired stallion Captain Treacherous with their mare Coppagoodone. The dam had a special night, with her previous foal – Yambukian – running second in his three-year-old class.
