Top Melton trainer Andy Gath has entered rarified air as the best pacer he has trained Catch A Wave nears a racetrack return.
Gath, 57, recently topped 3000 Australian career training wins.
According to Harness Racing Australia records, Gath is just the sixth trainer to reach the incredible milestone.
“I’m told Lance Justice and Steve Turnbull lead the way with over 4000 wins,” Gath said.
Leap To Fame’s Queensland-based trainer Grant Dixon is the benchmark with 3839 wins.
Powerhouse Victorian trainer Emma Stewart has 3621 wins and next in line is WA champion Gary Hall Sr on 3309.
“It’s really satisfying to get to a mark like this and to think of the great names who didn’t train as many winners,” Gath said.
“As any trainer will tell, training is a team effort and not just one person. I’ve been lucky to have lots of help from family and some great staff along the way.”
Of the many staff, the most famous would be Kiwi Dexter Dunn, who is one of the world’s best drivers and based in the US.
Dunn worked for Gath as a teenager and drove his first winner for the stable aboard My Ultimate One at Geelong as a 17-year-old in 2006.
Catch A Wave would sit with champion trotters La Coocaracha and Tornado Valley as the best horses Gath has trained.
The eight-time Group 1 returns after almost 12 months of hoof issues with bruising and quarter cracks.
“It goes back 12 months to the last Brisbane Inter Dominion, that’s when the problems first emerged,” Gath said.
Catch A Wave heads to the Melton trials today (Tuesday) to face just one rival, Smoken Ace, as he prepares to resume his roller-coaster career.
The gelding, who boasts 28 wins and almost $2.3 million in prizemoney, hasn’t raced since finishing second at Melton on February 28.
Catch A Wave’s last win was way back on October 4 last year, when he beat current Inter Dominion contestant War Dan Buddy in the Casey Classic at Melton.
“Last campaign was a bit of a wasted one as we tried to battle the feet,” Gath said. “Now he’s had a good break, his feet seem fantastic and he’s ready to go again.
“We’ve got no grand plans with him, just get back racing and hopefully back to his best form.”
With Catch A Wave close to a return, Gath will give his other open-class pacer My Ultimate Barney a freshen-up.
