Christmas has come early for the Gatt kennel after the team scored their first ever quartet of Wentworth Park winners on Thursday night.
Ritza Ringer, Ritza Tears, Ritza Tiana and Wyndra All Heart all greeted the judge first on the 10-race midweek program, securing a nice piece of history for the family synonymous with our premier city venue.
“We had a good night and the stars just aligned…which doesn’t always happen,” a jovial Mark Gatt said on Friday morning.
Ritza Tiana is a Bernardo x Ritza Rain and has started her career with two wins from two starts
“I remember years ago I had already won a treble at Wenty Park when my fourth dog of the night was about to jump as the $1.30 favourite. He was named Things Missing and he was a really good dog, but he went under.”
“Ritza Cohen also got beaten one night when we were going for four as well. I thought the same thing was going to happen again last night because Wyndra All Heart (Race 10) was the shortest price of the lot but he got the job done.”
It was the first quartet of any kind for the Gatt kennel since 2021 when Stanley Road, Ritza Donna, Shanjo Prince and Omens all won at Richmond.
Gatt pleased with his young team of sprinters considering a few had produced “below average” trial form.
“The new ones trialled at Richmond recently and based on times, you’d think they’d never win a race. I had a feeling they were better than that though and I knew I’d schooled them at Wenty Park was confident they’d improve under race conditions,” Gatt said.
“Ritza Ringer (one start) doesn’t trial very good and always goes better with other dogs so that tells me he could be a good race dog. He doesn’t have a lot of pace but he’s very strong but he’ll definitely get 600m somewhere along the way.”
“Ritza Tears (six starts) is a really good speed dog. He’s not a lid pinger and he takes a few strides to get going but then he drops the hammer. He still gets pretty tired late but we’ll line him up for the Derby in January.”
“Ritza Tiana is Tears’ sister and she’s never put a lot on the clock in trials either. And Wyndra All Heart is a bit of a klutz but he’s a Fernando Bale and they can take a bit to work it out. When the penny drops, they just keep going and although he does a bit wrong, he’s improving, he’s consistent and a decent money spinner.”
So far in 2025, Gatt has had 216 starters for 64 wins at a strike rate of 30%.
His eye now slightly turning to some age-restricted contests in the New Year.
"We'll probably steer a few of these into the Derby and Futurity but the dogs that usually win those Group 1's are a bit more seasoned," Gatt added.
"Patricia Chaker has that good one of ours, Ritza Kris, and she’s the sort of greyhound that can win a race like the Futurity. And I think that good one, Zipper On Time, is eligible as well and she's been in some big races against nice dogs."
