Explosive pacer Captain Ravishing’s run up to The Eureka

WE will know a lot more about explosive pacer Captain Ravishing on July 26.

That’s what trainer Ahmed Taiba calls “a line in the sand date” for the one-time TAB Eureka favourite.

“He’ll go to Melton where Greg (Sugars) will drive him a strong, private workout and then we’ll shape plans after that,” he said.

“We’re really happy with him at home, he’s pretty close, but we’re also keen to get Greg’s input.

“And, by taking him to Melton, we know what times he should run for where he’s at and what to expect from him.”

What seems to have changed is the big focus on lead-up races at Menangle for Captain Ravishing ahead of the world’s richest harness race, the $2.1mil TAB Eureka on September 2.

Taiba said he favoured trials at Melton on August 8 and 15 ahead of going to Sydney early.

“As I said, we’ll know more after the July 26 workout, but a couple of trials here (Melton) after that makes sense,” he said.

Captain Ravishing is also very likely to work between races at Geelong, probably with fellow TAB Eureka contender Catch A Wave, on the big August 4 “Team Zav” night.

“We want to help promote the sport in every way we can,” Taiba said.

“He will have a public appearance that week, the only reason he wouldn’t go to Geelong is if, for some reason, we thought he needed to trial at Melton on August 1 instead.”

Like everyone, Taiba was mightily impressed with TAB Eureka favourite Leap To Fame’s Group 1 Rising Sun win last Saturday night.

“He was awesome, no doubt about that,” he said. “But we think it’s exciting. Leap To Fame has set the bar and now everyone wants to take the top dog down.

“What we’ve got is the knowledge we’ve sat outside him and beaten him before and not many can say that.

“Now we’ve just got to get Captain Ravishing back to his very best form and I’m sure we’re right in the race.”

Words Adam Hamilton