Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
Brilliant speedster Captain Ravishing made a superb WA debut and emerged as a serious contender for the $450,000 TABtouch WA Pacing Cup when Aiden De Campo drove him to a most impressive victory in the Sky Racing Navy Cup over 2130m at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
“He will be better for the Pacing Cup next Friday night,” said the New South Wales-bred five-year-old’s Victorian trainer Freddy Taiba. “He needed that run and pulled up a bit big.”
Taiba, who arrived in Perth two days before Friday night’s event, heaped praise on Oakford trainer Jemma Hayman and her husband Ross Olivieri, who have cared for Captain Ravishing since he arrived in WA almost a fortnight ago.
“The horse will stay with Jemma and Ross,” said Taiba. “They have been unbelievable, and I’ll remain here, but Jemma will continue working the horse. She turned him out a treat tonight, so we won’t be changing anything.”
Hayman said that Captain Ravishing had settled in wonderfully at his new surroundings. “We have converted him to being led off the quad bike, and he has taken to it like a duck to water and is enjoying being worked on the sand.”
Captain Ravishing was the $4.80 second favourite, with Lavra Joe dominating betting as the $1.60 favourite from the prized No. 1 barrier.
De Campo got Captain Ravishing away smartly from the No. 5 barrier, while Lavra Joe held up with Steno ($10) in the breeze for the first 450m before Captain Ravishing moved to that position after a moderate lead time of 37.4sec.
The first quarter was run in a comfortable 30sec. before Gary Hall Jnr dashed last-start winner and $31 chance Jawsoflincoln forward in the first circuit to quickly get to the breeze, leaving Captain Ravishing in the ideal one-out, one-back position, with Steno following him in the one-wide line.
Lavra Joe increased the tempo with second and third 400m sections of 28.9sec. and 27.9sec. before Captain Ravishing revealed sparkling speed when de Campo sent him forward with a three-wide burst 500m from home.
Captain Ravishing surged to the front about 120m from the post and went on to win by a length from $18 chance To Fast To Serious, who had trailed the pacemaker all the way. Steno finished solidly to be third, with Lavra Joe wilting to fourth after a final quarter of 28.4sec.
“We had to do a little bit of work early and I was happy to sit in the breeze,” said De Campo. “But when the cover came it was perfect.
“I clicked Captain Ravishing up half-way down the back straight, and he went fast. When I got to the front, he knocked off a bit. He is a super horse. He was running around a little bit, but that’s just him. He looks a lot worse than he actually is.”
Captain Ravishing has been lightly raced, and he now has had 23 starts for 12 wins, five placings and $573,725.
“He has never had anything major wrong with him,” said Taiba. “He is a fast horse, and you have a lot of problems when you go so fast. But there’s never been anything serious.
“My brother Hassan purchased Captain Ravishing for $80,000 at the 2020 APG yearling sale in Sydney. With his looks he was a stand-out, and Michael Doltoff (Sydney trainer) is a good friend of ours and he pushed us.”