Bitter Dispute Sees Catch The Thief Change Kennels

DUAL group winner Catch The Thief will transfer to the kennels of Jason Thompson following a bitter falling out between trainer Matt Clark and a division of the dog's ownership group.

Winner at 20 of his 41 appearances, including victories in the Group 2 WA Derby and Group 3 Warragul St. Leger, Catch The Thief makes the move to Thompson as a 10-time group race finalist for trainer Matt Clark, boasting a winning strike-rate just shy of 50 percent.

“I want it known that I'm the one who instigated the move of the dog to Jason (Thompson),” said an emotional Matt Clark.

“There's nothing underhanded going on – I rang Jason directly and asked him to take the dog.”

After launching his career in sensational fashion at Warragul in December 2019, Catch The Thief, a son of Aussie Infrared, quickly established himself as one of Australia's elite sprinters.

A regular fixture on the group racing scene, Catch The Thief has posted some sensational times under the care of Clark, including a sizzling 29.21 at Sandown Park and 29.61 at The Meadows.

But in recent times friction has been escalating between Clark and a section of the ownership group, ultimately leading to the decision to move the Adelaide Cup runner-up on.

“As difficult a decision as it is, it is also an easy one,” Clark said.

“I have had the dog since a baby, broke him in, pre-trained him and raced him with success, so it's gut wrenching to find out that one of his three owners has been going behind my back, trying to convince the other owners that I don't know what I'm doing.

“The situation had turned toxic and when I heard that his main owner Louie (Cardillo) wanted to get out of the dog because of how things had turned I decided it was best for all that he move on and there's not a better trainer in Australia than Jason.

“For me the most important thing is that I remain friends with the other two owners and Louie remains our main owner of many of our dogs here.”