Winning will come first for superstar four-year-old Captain Ravishing in Saturday night’s Chariots Of Fire but perfect conditions at Menangle will give him the platform to make a statement that would be heard around the world.
Sydney’s heatwave has presented the most exciting pacer this century with a chance to post a time not seen before around the 1400m track, and time is the mark of greatness in harness racing.
Captain Ravishing pins his ears back as he wins the Bonanza at Melton earlier this month.
Captain Ravishing has been annihilating rivals in cold conditions down at Melton and running track records. Those performances have resulted in him being snapped up in the Danny Zavitsanos slot for the world’s richest race, The Eureka, in September and have experts talking about the possibility of an unprecedented one minute and 45 second mile in the Chariots given the expected warm still conditions.
“I never thought I’d have a horse like him, and the pressure that comes with him is incredible,” owner Hass Tabia said. “Slow ones are much easier to manage expectations with.
“He is amazing, and he is still learning how to race.”
According to Tabia, trainer Emma Stewart and driver Mark Pitt believe “we are going to see something special on Saturday night”.
Captain Ravishing’s combined winning margins in his nine victories amount to more than 160 metres, but he is likely to be made to work hard early in the Chariots Of Fire.
He has drawn gate one, which is perhaps the worst draw for a $1.28 favourite because he will be asked to show speed from the mobile to keep the lead from rivals who think their best chance is to find the front and the pegs.
“He is going to run the gate and keep the lead. We are very confident he can do that,” Tabia said. “He has never been asked to do it because we haven’t had to ask that of him, but Mark says he will hold the lead.
“People can talk about running times, but if he could run two minutes and win and I would be happy.
“I want to win this race, and he will run the time he needs to do that.”
Tabia paid $80,000 for Captain Ravishing as a yearling and he was trained by Tabia’s brother Ahmed at the start of his career. But after last year’s NSW Derby, he was moved to the powerful Stewart stable and has thrived.
“He always had talent and, when you go to a big stable like Emma, they took him another level. It’s a level I didn’t think was possible,” Tabia said.
Since joining the Stewart yard, Captain Ravishing has only been beaten once in eight starts and won the Breeders’ Crown and The Bonanza by simply running away from his rivals.
“Mark didn’t even have to pull the [ear] plugs last time, so we don’t know what is left,” Tabia said.
Captain Ravishing is already the Miracle Mile favourite and a win in the Chariots Of Fire would earn him a place in the time-honoured test of speed in two weeks.
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