Gath brings home four

By John Dunne (HRV)

Kate Gath, fresh from a personal best time in the Gold Coast Marathon, extended her lead in the Metropolitan Drivers Premiership after steering home a quartet of winners at Bendigo last Saturday night.

The Team Gath trained rising eight-year-old Tango Tara topped $300,000 in prizemoney after leading all the way in the J & A Mazzetti Painting Koala King Free For All.

Tango Tara was joined and headed by the $2.10 favourite Bettor Isolate around the home turn however the son of A Rocknroll Dance refused to yield and fought back to score by a head from the fast finishing Max Delight.

Gath admitted she held the lead against her better judgement on Tango Tara.

“There has been a couple of times when he has led and should have won, he’s just been a touch disappointing,” Gath said.

“And then there are times when he’s sat parked and been beaten four metres and run home really well in quick sectionals yet when he’s led, he has just got run down late and half way down the straight tonight I thought not again,” she said.

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Earlier in the night Gath partnered the Emma Stewart trained mare Dannemora to take out the Prydes Easifeed Pace after sitting parked for the last 1600 metres of the race.

Dannemora is now unbeaten in seven starts since arriving at Stewart’s stable from New Zealand earlier this year.

Gath said the four-year-old passed her toughest test to date with flying colours.

“She did it really easily, she picked up the leader really quickly in a couple of strides,” she said.

“And as she does, she just holds where she is after that and does what she has to do, she got her really quick in what were pretty cheap sectionals for the leader and I was impressed.”

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Later in the night Gath opted to surrender the lead on former New Zealander Terry before that pacer outsprinted his rivals in the Vale Noel Ridge Pace.

“It was a pretty solid effort especially the lead time and he copped it left right and centre, he had never been used out of the gate in New Zealand so I just decided to use him but when we copped that second burn from Major Manbar I thought we’d better hand up,” she said.

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Gath rounded out the night with a victory aboard Chinese Whisper in the Aldebaran Park Trot providing Team Gath and owner Norm Jenkin with a winning treble.

“He’s pretty seasoned and he raced during the Inter Dominion series against the best trotters we have here in Victoria, he’s a pretty quality horse and hopefully we can see the best of him this season,” she said.

Gath heads the table on 28 metropolitan successes holding an 11-win lead over Mark Pitt on 17 wins.