THE CATALYST COMEBACK IS READY TO GO

By Graham Potter | Tuesday, August 30, 2022

The connections of Catalyst have opted for a change of plan following the gelding’s withdrawal from the Group 2 Foxbridge Plate last Saturday due to the heavy track at Te Rapa, in what would have been his scheduled, long-awaited return to action.

With the weather forecast not guaranteeing anything better for his proposed next assignment … Gr.1 Tarzino Trophy at Hastings in two Saturday’s time … the decision has been made to pull the plug on any New Zealand runs and head straight over to Melbourne.

And Catalyst could well be in action as early as Saturday in the Chautauqua Stakes at Moonee Valley. A decision on that will only be taken after his arrival in Melbourne. He has a flight booked to Melbourne on Wednesday.

Trainer Tony Pike knows the odds against Catalyst being an overnight success, given that he last raced just under two years ago in The Shorts at Randwick on September 19, 2020, but the seasoned trainer is pleased with Catalyst’s current well-being.

“He’s still very highly rated,” Pike told Racing.com. “He trialled up super this time and he couldn’t be going any better, but we know it’s a long run back and it might take two or three runs to get him back to peak fitness and whether he’s still got that brilliance … his work and trials certainly suggest he has.”

The son of Darci Brahma, who first appeared under the care of trainer Clayton Chipperfield, appeared to have the world at his feet when, after a debut warm-up, he won six races in a row including the Listed El Roca Trophy, the Group 3 Northland Breeders’ Stakes, the Group 2 Hawkes Bay Guineas and the Group 1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas and the Group 3 Mt Tiz Trophy … a highly progressive run of success which allowed Catalyst to establish a perfect, unbeaten record as a three-year-old in New Zealand.

Catalyst’s move to Melbourne at that time initially saw him play a huge part in one of the most rousing races of the season when he fought tooth and nail in a punishing stride for stride battle with the equally tough and talented Alligator Blood before going down by the narrowest of margins in the Group 3 C S Hayes at Flemington.

In his two subsequent starts Calalyst was not the same horse … beaten 4.30 lengths by Alligator Blood in the Australian Guineas and then by 14.40 lengths when tailed off in the 2020 Group 2 Shorts, won Classique Legend, after when being plagued by lameness issue in the week before the race.

That was the last time Catalyst was in action.

With Clayton Chipperfield stepping away from training and Tony Pike taking over the reins, so to speak, it has already been a long road back for Catalyst but, as reported by Pike, he is doing everything right at this stage … and just how that translates into race performance will be one of the on-going points of focus under scrutiny as Catalyst takes up this new challenge.

All things being equal, as a lightly raced six-year-old (only ten career starts), Catalyst could have plenty more to come, including a possible meeting with his old rival Alligator Blood.

It could be a very interesting campaign.

Tony Pike