Victorian harness racing’s pride has been restored.
Back on March 25, I penned a “Forum” column about a disturbing fact for the passionate Victorian industry and some almost immediate opportunities which existed to address it.
Just a few weeks early, at Menangle on March 9, the $1mil Miracle Mile was run without a Victorian-trained contestant.
Sure, this is a cyclical game, but to think not one of the eight runners in Australasia’s premier speed test came from Victoria should and did spark alarm.
It was the first Miracle Mile run without a Victorian presence since Baby Bling won the race in April, 2013.
And it came just a year after Catch A Wave won the Miracle Mile.
It put great importance on how the Victorians performed across three huge and exciting slot races this month, the TAB Trot and Race By Grins at Cambridge in NZ and the Nullarbor in Perth.
But we had to defy almost a decade of history to win any of those three races.
It had been almost nine years since a Victorian-trained horse had won a major Group 1 race in either NZ or WA.
Arden Rooney and Kerryn Manning won the 2015 NZ Trotting Cup, while Lennytheshark won the Perth Inter Dominion final just a few weeks later for David Aiken and Chris Alford.
Enter Just Believe, Catch A Wave and others.
It was only fitting the mighty Just Believe, who is rapidly becoming all-time great of Down Under trotting, turned the tide.
Just Believe led home a Victorian rampage in the inaugural $NZ600,000 TAB Trot. Not only was it one of his greatest wins, but Victorians filled the next three placings, too. Callmethebreeze was second, Queen Elida third and Arcee Phoenix fourth.
Victoria only had three runners in the race.
On the same night at Cambridge, Just Believe’s stablemate Better Eclipse almost went unnoticed, but unfairly so.
The dual Group 1 winner drew poorly in the $NZ1mil Race By Grins, got a mile back and was absolutely flying home late in between runners until he ran out of room. He hit the line full of running and with nowhere to go.
With the buzz back in Victoria, hopes turned to our lone runner in last Friday week’s $1.25mil Nullarbor at Gloucester Park.
Opinions were certainly divided on whether Catch A Wave could win – or even if he should’ve gone to Perth judging by the narks on social media – but he delivered and in stunning style.
As hard as it is for an Aussie to win in NZ, most trainers will tell you it's even harder to win as an “eastern stater” at Gloucester Park.
As far as his CV goes, it won’t eclipse winning a Miracle Mile, but on all other levels the Nullarbor was the biggest and most important moment of Catch A Wave’s career so far.
Just for good measure, he completed an historic double by adding last Friday night’s $300,000 Group 1 Fremantle Cup.
Both races were over staying distances he wasn’t supposed to handle, according to the knockers.
What Catch A Wave brought to the promotion of WA harness racing and its profile over the past few weeks has been enormous.
And let’s not forget the genius of Andy Gath’s training and two superb Kate Gath drives.
Doing the double saw Catch A Wave challenge Just Believe Victoria’s flagship horse.
But Just Believe’s sustained deeds in 19 months since joining the stables of Jess Tubbs and Greg Sugars is almost beyond belief.
In that time, Just Believe has raced 33 times – across three countries – for 23 wins, seven seconds and two thirds. His only unplaced run came when he ran into trouble in the Elitlopp heat last year in Sweden.
He’s now second only to the great Lyell Creek on the all-time prize money earning list for Down Under trotters.
It’s fitting he posted his 23rd win for Tubbs and Sugars – and 30th of his career – in a race named after Lyell Creek at Auckland’s Alexandra Park last Friday night.
So, Victoria’s now in a position of having one of the greatest trotters of all time and a pacer who now ranks second-only to the mighty Queenslander Leap To Fame on a national and, you could argue, Australasian stage.
The rest of the year should be fun.