FOLLOW GERAN RACING
By Graham Potter | Saturday, November 18, 2023
FOLLOW THE COREY AND KYLIE GERAN RACING STABLE
When a horse puts three wins together in a row, it is probably fair to assume that luck had little to do with it.
A horse doesn’t land a hat trick of wins ... anywhere ... without being well-placed by its trainer, without having inherent fitness to tackle any given assignment and without having the ability to carry through with the task.
Ok, maybe every runner needs a little bit of luck ... even if that only means staying out of trouble ... but, notwithstanding that debate, the Corey and Kylie trained Jack Be Lucky continues to blaze a winning trail with the five-year-old gelding’s latest success coming at Roma in a Country Stampede Qualifier Open Handicap over 1000m on November 18.
This was Jack Be Lucky’s second Country Stampeded Qualifier win. He had already ticked off the first box required to claim a place in the Country Stampede Final when he won a qualifying race at Gympie on October 28, but he still needed to meet the condition of having competed in five races at country meetings between November 21, 2022 and November 21, 2023.
After the win at Gympie, the Geran’s marked a race at Dalby and the race at Roma to ensure, not only that second qualifying box was ticked, but also to being Jack Be Lucky along at a measured rate so that he could be ready to give of his best in the Country Stampede Final at Doomben on December 2. Read more ...
ANOTHER TWO VENUE DOUBLE FOR TEAM GERAN (NOVEMBER 18, 2023)
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The five-year-old chestnut mare Vonzither made it back-to-back wins when she took out a BM65 Handicap over 1100m at Toowoomba on November 11.
The daughter of Toronado had saluted by the narrowest of margins in her pervious start (in a Ratings Band 0-58 Handicap over 1200m) while still under the care of trainer Wayne Nugent, and she continued her good work here when scoring in her first start for the Corey and Kylie Geran training partnership.
Coming into the race on the back of that win, Vonzither jumped at a generous starting price of $5, while another last start winner, the Steve Tregea trained Quackery and the Robert Lyford trained Rose By Design (who had run third at Doomben in her last start) topped the betting boards at $2.30 and $2.80 respectively in the six horse field.
Jockey Gary Geran arguably made the race winning move on Vonzither a couple of strides after the start when he speared his mount into an immediate lead after which he controlled the race, holding a two to one-and-a-half lead all the way to the approach to the home turn. Read more ...
VONZITHER CARRIES ON HER GOOD WORK (NOVEMBER 11, 2023)
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The Little Dance, a race worth $750 000 over 1500m at Randwick on November 7 was always going to be a mouth-watering prospect for trainers Corey and Kylie Geran and the host of connections of the six-year-old gelding Without Revenge who was a recent addition to the team having been purchased by Kobie O’Brien.
The team arrived with little fanfare at Randwick. In fact, you could say they were hardly noticed and certainly not respected in the preamble, to the degree that Without Revenge was roundly neglected in the betting (he would jump at a starting price of $201) but everyone soon found out that Without Revenge was not there to merely make up the numbers and just go around.
He was there to shake up the pre-race thinking and … win, lose or draw … he was intent on laying down the law to his opposition, which included the $3.50 race favourite Cotehele (John O’Shea / Nash Rawiller) and runners from the yards of Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, Bjorn Baker and Kris Lees … amongst other.
Without Revenge, the only Queensland representative in the race, had to jump from the visitor’s draw (barrier draw fifteen out of twenty), but jockey Tom Sherry and the Geran team had only one thing in mind for Without Revenge on leaving the gates. Read more ...
WITHOUT REVENGE (A $201 CHANCE) GIVES THE LITTLE DANCE A REAL, SHAKE, RATTLE AND ROLL (NOVEMBER 7, 2023)
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On two of the biggest days on the racing calendar, Derby Day and Melbourne Cup Day, the Corey and Kylie Geran training partnership quietly kept the scoreboard moving, saddling three winners … two at their home track at Toowoomba and one at Dalby.
Tokyo Sins, who was having her first run since relocating to the Geran yard, came into a Ratings 0-58 Handicap over 1000m at Toowoomba on November 4 after having a break from racing of a little under three months.
She had recorded one win in ten previous starts (over 1200m in a Maiden at Warwick), and she immediately doubled her number of wins first-up for the Geran yard when scoring by 0.20 lengths under the guidance of apprentice Oliva Webb.
Jumping as the $1.85 favourite in a five horse field, Tokyo Sins landed third and then was quickly up to second, holding the rail position a length off the leader, the $8 chance Acirema.
Webb switched Tokyo Sins out across Acirema’s heels to race one wide approaching the home turn and then quickly moved the daughter of Mikki Isle up alongside … and then passed the early leader on straightening. Read more ...
KEEPING THE SCOREBOARD MOVING (NOVEMBER 7, 2023)
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The Corey and Kylie Geran stable have been very busy … and tomorrow at Randwick they will step up to feature race action at Randwick for the first time when the six-year-old import Without Revenge, who will be having the first start for the Geran yard, steps out in the $750 000 Little Dance over 1600m.
Busy in that in the last couple of weeks the Geran Team have qualified two runners, Jack Be Luck and Vinasta for the $200 000 Country Cups final and the $105 000 Country Stampede Final respectively.
Both of those races will take place on December 2 at Doomben, evidence that the stable continues to target the best options available for their team.
But, for now, that big day out at Doomben will be pushed aside for the moment as an even bigger adventure beckons.
The surrounds of Royal Randwick will be the focus of attention when Corey and Kylie Geran saddle up a newcomer to their stable in the form of the former David Vandyke trained Without Revenge, who was purchased by KO Racing’s Kobie O’Brien after the son of Muhaarar had finished second in the Lismore Cup, a result which galned him entry into the Little Dance. Read more ...
WARMING UP FOR THE LITTLE DANCE (NOVEMBER 6, 2023)
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The Stampede Qualifier Open Handicap over 1030m at Gympie on October 28 was to provide an important win for both the five-year-old gelding Jack Be Lucky and the Corey and Kylie Geran training partnership.
Jack Be Lucky’s fifth career victory earned him direct entry into the $105 000 Country Stampede Final at Doomben on December 2, the same day on which the stable will contest the $200 000 Country Cups Challenge final with their Wondai Cup winner Vinasta.
And they might not be finished yet!
The stable will target the Yeppoon Country Cups Challenge qualifier on November 4, taking two runners … Sammy and Torbreck … to vie for a coveted place in the Country Cups Final and join Vinasta in that race.
“Jack Be Lucky took a long time to win his Maiden, but he was always paid his way. He just kept running into better ones on the day. He had four seconds in a row in the runs leading into his Maiden win in May 2022,” said Corey Geran.
In his next six starts Jack Be Lucky won another two races, finished second twice and third and fourth once, underlining the consistent level of performance that any owner would like to see in their horse. Read more ...
JACK BE LUCKY EARNS A STAMPEDE FINAL BERTH (OCTOBER 28, 2023)
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Talk about taking no prisoners!
The Corey and Kylie Geran trained Vinasta might have missed out (when finishing third) in the Country Cups Challenge Qualifier / Tara Cup Open Handicap over 1400m (held at Dalby) last time out, but the ever-game, now eight-year-old mare is something of a gift that keeps on giving for the Geran stable and her ownership group who race in the Kobie O’Brien’s KO Racing colours.
It didn’t take long for Vinasta to set the record straight and she did so in the most emphatic terms when she tackled the Country Cups Challenge Qualifier / Wondai Cup Open contest on October 21.
Stepping up in distance to the 1577m, Vinasta, under Gary Geran, could not have been more clinical in the way he went about his business … from start to finish.
Pushed out by Geran from the worst of the draw (barrier ten out of ten), Vinasta, the $5.50 third favourite, was quickly right up with the speed, crossing under a great ride to fill second place briefly before settling into third spot as the $3.30 favourite Portnoy led the field past winning post for the first time.
When the field emerged out of the dust cloud going down the back straight, Portnoy still held the lead with Vinasta holding the inside run in the trio of horses racing a couple of lengths in behind the leader. Read more ...
VINASTA - A GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING (OCTOBER 21, 2023)
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Two runners … two winners … that is a good return for any racing stable at any racetrack … and that is exactly what the Corey and Kylie Geran training partnership achieved at Gatton on October 20 when Skater and Sempreinte saluted over a two hour period.
Skater was first off the block in race 5, a BM60 Handicap over 1600m.
With silks displaying the distinctive Get Out Stakes logo, Skater made it two wins out of three starts for the Geran yard.
He had won first-up for the Geran team, after transferring from the Michael Nolan yard where he had fifteen starts, and that win came over the 1650m trip at Toowoomba.
Next up was a worrying run over 1890m at Toowoomba, but there were mitigating factors in his disappointing, unplaced, virtually tailed off finish which strongly suggested a line could be drawn through that result, and the Geran team certainly had him very much back on song for this Gatton assignment. Read more ...
A FULL HOUSE OF WINNERS FOR TEAM GERAN AT GATTON (OCTOBER 20, 2023)
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A starting price of $5 for a last start winner (albeit at Goondiwindi) proved to be generous odds for the Corey and Kylie Geran trained Gidget, who made it back-to-back wins when she saluted in a BM60 Handicap over 1200m at Dalby on October 7.
With Nozi Tomizawa in the saddle for the first time in Gidget’s nineteenth career start, the four-year-old daughter of Outreach did it at both ends.
She surged into an immediate lead, but she was only allowed a brief time to enjoy a clear lead before two rivals, Barrymore ($13) and Mountbattan ($17) joined her to her outside, applying pressure, but Gidget remained unfazed, holding the inside line and maintaining her lead as she brought the field to the home turn. Read more ...
GIDGET GOES ALL THE WAY (OCTOBER 7, 2023)
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Make no mistake, trying to land a spot in the Country Cups Challenge final is a tough task.
KO Racing and the Corey and Kylie Geran training partnership brought a three-pronged attack to that game on October 7, sending Torbreck out to the contest the Country Cups Challenge Qualifier / Eidsvold Cup Race-day and doubling up with Vinasta and Sammy in the Country Cups Challenge Qualifier / Tara Cup Raceday, which was rescheduled to take place at Dalby after, according to a Racing Queensland media release, ‘Ongoing hot and dry conditions - with no rain - have made the Tara track unsuitable for racing.’
At Dalby, the $2 favourite Office Jim was prominent from the break, settling in a clear second place behind the tearaway leader Parko ($9), while Vinasta ($6) took the trail in fourth and Sammy raced well back, some six to seven lengths off the leader in the early part. Read more ...
QUALIFYING FOR THE COUNTRY CUPS CHALLENGE FINAL IS NOT AN EASY TASK (2023)
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The lightly raced four-year-old mare Awesome Moon became the latest winner in the KO Racing colours when she claimed her first career victory in her eighth start in a Maiden Plate over 1890m at Toowoomba on September 30.
Awesome Moon could not come from a better line on the male side of her pedigree. Her sire, Satono Aladdin, was a top-class racehorse in Japan where his eight victories included a Group 1 success in the Yasuda Kinen.
That win in the Yasuda Kinen, as described in a report in the South China Morning Post, took the Yasutoshi Ikee-trained stallion from a ‘million dollar baby’ to a Group One winner, the article referencing the fact that, ‘Satono Aladdin was the first horse Ikee bought for high-profile owner Hajime Satomi, who paid ?136,500,000 (HK$9.52 million) for the well-bred foal by Deep Impact out of the stakes-winning Storm Cat mare Magic Storm at the 2011 Select Sale.
Deep Impact, who won the Japanese Triple Crown in 2005, in turn was sired by Sunday Silence who won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness in 1989. Read more ...
AWESOME MOON WINS LIKE A GOOD THING (SEPTEMBER 30 2023)
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It is always good to get on the scoreboard early and that is exactly what the Corey and Kylie Geran training partnership did at Toowoomba on September 30 when Husson’s Revenge landed his first win for his new stable in the first race, a BM62 Handicap over 1000m.
The Geran team were the third stable to have the five-year-old in their care following on Husson’s Revenge having had three runs (for one win) for Michael Costa in the first two months of 2022, followed by his time with Jack Bruce stable, where he had five runs (for one win) between August and October 2022.
Husson’s Revenge debuted for the Geran stable at Dalby on September 16 where he finished third over 1110m in his first outing in eleven months.
That run was always going to bring him on to some degree and the betting going into the Toowoomba contest as the $3.30 joint favourite suggested that he had in fact come on well enough to be considered a serious winning chance ... but he did have his $3.30 market rival Bright Daisy to beat ... the latter coming into the race with a win a two runner-up finishes from her last three starts. Read more ...
HUSSON'S REVENGE SCORES FIRST WIN FOR NEW STABLE (SEPTEMBER 30 2023)
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The Corey and Kylie trained Nikau Spur had certainly earned his stripes coming into the Toowoomba Cup, his big home-town feature race which was contested over 2000m on September 23.
Carrying the distinctive KO Racing silks, the seven-year-old son of Proisir had won three of his last four starts prior to facing the starter in the Toowoomba Cup.
Those wins had come over distances ranging from 1815m to 2200m, so the Cup distance fell neatly within his comfortable stroke zone and bookmakers were not keen to chance their arm with him, sending him off as a clearcut $2.50 favourite after being punted in from $3.80 … with only two other runners in the fourteen horse field … Heleva Deel ($8 – a last start winner at Eagle Farm) and Namazi ($9.50) – the Townsville Cup winner) quoted at odds under $10.
There was a jockey change on Nikau Spur. There was nothing sinister in that as Mark Du Plessis, Nikau Spur’s regular pilot, was unavailable, so Ben Thompson, another top rider, was handed the reins.
Nikau Spur was surrounded by horses in midfield as the runners passed the winning post for the first time. Thompson then briefly settled him in seventh place as the field left the home straight with the $13 chance Military Gamber, who Damien Thornton had pushed forward from a wide draw, coming across to take up the lead.
Nikau Spur was caught three wide at that stage, and he was briefly as much as five lengths behind Military Gambler as the leader got on with it, taking the field towards the back straight. Read more ...
NO CIGAR, BUT ANOTHER STRONG SHOWING BY NIKAU SPUR FINISHING RUNNER-UP IN THE TOOWOOMBA CUP (SEPTEMBER 23 2023)
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It’s home-town Cup-time for the Corey and Kylie Geran training partnership and the betting says they are in the pound seats with the in-form Nikau Spur marked up as dominant favourite for the big race.
Early in the race-week, co-trainer Corey Geran spoke to James O’Shea on Racing Nation about Nikau Spur and his feelings going into the race. Geran’s informed comments are repeated below.
On the excitement and anticipation of the occasions:
“To come into this race is a big thrill in itself, but to come in as favourite is pretty special. The only one thing that can beat that most likely is winning it.
On the path Nikau Spur has taken to the Cup:
“If you’d asked me about it a few months ago I would have been pretty sceptical. We sort of bought this horse for the Rocky Cup. That was the original plan … a few Cup races like that.
“Kobie O’Brien picked him out. I didn’t mind him when said he had bought him. I wasn’t overly sold on him to be quite honest … and then I got him here and he is a magnificent horse. He is a beautiful looking horse. He has got a great nature on him.”
On the feedback received on Nikau Spur’s profile prior to coming into the stable … the change and how the change came about. Read more ...
TAKING AIM AT A HOME-TOWN CUP (SEPTEMBER 21 2023)
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A good break at the start and a quick forward move straight into a comfortable rails run in second place three quarters to half a length behind the early leader Approval ($5) was all the $2.50 favourite Galway Hussler needed to set up yet another victory for the KO Racing ownership and the Corey and Kylie Geran training partnership. … this time in a QTIS Three-Year-Old BM60 Handicap over 1200m at Dalby on September 16.
Gallway Hussler would not have been short of confidence coming into the race the three-year-old filly had already won two of her three starts this season, but the Geran Team was testing her rate of progress yet again, increasing the distance test from 1100m to 1200m while also asking the daughter of Husson to carry 2kg more than she powered home with in her previous, last start win at Gatton … going up to 59kg from 57kg. Read more ...
GALWAY HUSSLER CLAIMS HER THIRD WIN IN FOUR STARTS SINCE THE START OF THE NEW SEASON (SEPTEMBER 16. 2023)
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Three wins and one third place finish in four starts over a six-week period (from July 29 to Sep 9) … all at Saturday metropolitan level … has seen the career of the Corey and Kylie Geran trained and KO Racing owned Nikau Spur go into turbo-charge mode and take off on an exciting new trajectory.
That run of results, rubber stamped by his latest win at Doomben on Saturday, September 9, has brought just shy of a $150 000 boost to Nikau Spur’s prize-money-earnings bank balance, which means that, with a career earnings total of $321 507, he is already well on his way to doubling the money he earned in eighteen starts for the Ciaron Maher and David Eustace camp, prior to transferring the Geran stable, after only ten starts for the Geran team.
Nikau Spur won four races for Maher/Eustace up to 1600m and he was only tried beyond that 1600m trip once, at 1700m, during his time down south.
Corey and Kylie Geran followed that lead for Nikau Spur’s first six starts for the stable … not venturing beyond 1666m … until what was to become a transformative run when they asked Nikau Spur to tackle 1815m at Eagle Farm in a BM78 Handicap on July 29, which he won. Read more ...
THE NIKAU SPUR STORY JUST GETS BETTER AND BETTER (SEPTEMBER 9. 2023)
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The Corey and Kylie Geran trained Galway Hussler overcame a bungled start and a six-length early deficit to pulverize her opposition in no uncertain terms, laying it down to them in the straight before powering away to win every bit as easily and impressively as the official three length winning margin suggests in a QTIS Three-Year-Old BM60 Handicap over 1100m at Gatton on September 7.
The three-year-old daughter of Husson took five starts to shed her Maiden ticket, but she was a model of consistency before landing that first success, featuring in the placings in all four starts leading up to that win, which came over the 1000m trip at the Sunshine Coast.
Her follow-up run, when finishing fourth behind the smart Show Me Mercy (who is unbeaten in two starts) in a QTIS Three-Year-Old BM68 Handicap over 1000m, was always going to bring her on, if nothing else giving the lightly raced filly some necessary race experience so that, when she arrived at Gatton with that extra run under her belt and facing nothing like the strength of opposition she had tackle at her previous start, it looked like she was going to be right in this race. Read more ...
GALWAY HUSSLER LULLS HER OPPOSION INTO A FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY. SMASHES THEM LATE (SEPTEMBER 7. 2023)
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Ok … it wasn’t a case of ‘they came, they saw, the conquered’ … but it was just about as good an example you can get of someone giving the Birdsville Cup a real go to the point that, when you look back it, this is a second place of which connections can be proud.
Torbreck is the horse in question here … the Corey and Kylie Geran training partnership the trainers involved along with a large ownership group who race Torbreck under the KO Racing colours.
The trip …. as documented in a pervious article on HRO … is one steeped in optimism. Why else would you undertake a sixteen-hour journey with three horses, as the Geran team did, particularly when the answers to questions such as how the horses might be affected by the trip or how they would handle the prevailing track conditions on the day at Birdsville would only be known after the fact.
Of course, it is a great place to be with one of the biggest outback parties in the country, but you can do that without having horses in tow, so when you load them up your mindset has to include at lest a touch of optimism. Read more ...
THE ICONIC BIRDSVILLE CUP - WHEN FINISHING SECOND IS STILL A FEATHER IN YOUR CAP (SEPTEMBER 2. 2023)
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It is always a good result to win first-up with a new horse in the stable and the Corey and Kylie Geran training partnership did just that with Skater, a four-year-old Jabali mare, who ran out a comfortable winner in a BM60 Handicap over 1660m at Toowoomba on September 2.
Jumping at $4.80 in an open betting race that saw four horses vying for positions at the top of the betting boards with their prices ranging from $4.20 to $5.50, Skater, an emergency acceptor, was chased around his field early from a wide draw by Nozi Tomizawa and he reached the lead by the time the field had travelled 250m.
Skater held that advantage going down the first half of the back straight with a number of horses hard on his heels … and when Mordecai ($10), who had been caught wide, made a quick forward move and tried to challenge Skater for the outright lead at the 1200m, Tomizawa just asked Skater to quicken up a bit to hold Mordecai out, which he did, before settling in to lead the pack again on his terms, racing just under a length ahead of Mordecai along the rest of the back straight. Read more ...
SKATER GLIDES TO AN EASY SUCCESS (SEPTEMBER 2, 2023)
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Remember Samantha Miss?
The Redoute’s Choice mare who raced for trainer Kris Lees in the orange colours with the black maltese cross and who won the Champagne Stakes (beating Sebring), the Flight Stakes (beating Portillo) and the Crown Oaks at Flemington (beating Miss Scarlatti) – all Group 1 wins – as well saluting in the Silver Shadow, the Furious Stakes and the Tea Rose!
Yes, that’s the one.
Samantha Miss banked 1.7 million in prize-money from her relatively brief career of only twelve starts which is a pretty useful return when you consider we are talking about races run and won in 2008.
The mare is now eighteen years old and those who have gone through Friday’s racebook for Birdsville might have spotted her name in the breeding as the dam of horse number six in race five – the Cory and Kylie Geran trained Sammy. Read more ...
SAMMY'S FAMILY BRAGGING RIGHTS (31/08/23)
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Birdsville bound and a chance to mix with five thousand or so of your new best friends at the country’s greatest outback horse racing party ... well, that’s a well-worn path for Gary and Kylie Geran, so much so that Kylie can’t tell you exactly how many times they have made the trip.
“Ah geez, I really don’t know how many times exactly,” said Kylie, speaking shortly after her and Gary’s arrival at Birdsville for the 2023 edition of the iconic event.
“We’ve been coming to Birdsville since about 1998. Corey was about two years old when we first came out here ... and, yeah, as an event nothing much has changed.
The Geran team has three horses involved over the two-day meeting this weekend but, even with all of their understanding of the Birdsville experience, Kylie admits that the decision-making process in deciding which of the stable runners to bring to Birdsville remains a difficult call.
“It’s really very hard trying to pick the right horse because of the possible effects of the travel might have on the horse and, at the time you are making that decision, you also don’t know what the racing conditions will be like on the day,” explained Kylie. Read more ...
BIRDSVILLE BOUND, CUP TARGETED. INSIGHT INTO WHAT THE TRIP INVOLVES FROM A STABLE WHO SHOULD KNOW (AUGUST 30. 2023)
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The win of the Corey and Kylie Geran trained Nikau Spur on July 29 and the horse’s subsequent close-up third place finish in his follow-up outing on August 12 had already kept the KO Racing’s colours to the fore in town giving the training/ownership team a good start to the season ... and it got even better at Doomben on August 26 when the self-same Nikau Spur made it two wins in his last three starts, taking out a BM90 contest over 2020m.
In spite of his consistency, Nikau Spur started at seemingly generous odds of $5 in a five-horse field ... with punters rather siding with the big stables of Chris Waller, who saddled the $2.70 favourite Wairere Falls with whom Nikau Spur had dead-heated for third place when they last met, and Tony Gollan, who sent out the $3.90 second favourite Fifth Position.
That would prove to be their mistake.
Nikau Spur’s pervious win had come over 1815m. Following that, his narrow defeat had come over 1835m ... and now the stable saw fit to step up the distance test to the 2020m trip with Mark Du Plessis, who had partnered Nikau Spur in all of his last three starts leading into this race, staying in the saddle, thereby giving his vote of confidence to the chestnut son of Proisir, and providing a presence, with his knowledge of the horse, which would serve Nikau Spur well. Read more ...
NIKAU SPUR DOES IT AGAIN (AUGUST 26. 2023)
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The Corey and Kylie Geran training partnership continues to grow in stature, particularly with regard to their expertise in getting the best out of tried horses.
Our Magnus is a great example of that stable strength.
The son of Magnus arrived at the Geran stable as a four-year-old, five-race Maiden … with two third place finishes to his credit over those five starts which took place over an eight-month period.
In his subsequent eight starts for the Geran Team, Our Magnus has notched up four wins, three runner-up finishes and one third placing.
Consistency doesn’t come too much better than that.
His first two successes came in back-to-back wins … in his very first two starts for his new stable … in a Maiden Plate over 1125m at Toowoomba and then in a Class 2 Handicap over 1200m where he romped in, embarrassing his rivals when winning by a 4.30 length margin. Read motre ...
A STABLE GETTING THE BEST OUT OF TRIED HORSES (AUGUST 19. 2023)
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Team Geran and KO Racing’s Nikau Spur’s win on in town July 29 was a huge effort from the son of Proisir. The fact that it came off the back of an eye-catching third place finish at Ipswich ten days earlier strongly suggested that Nikau Spur was enjoying his racing and lifting his form in the right direction.
To win two-in-a-row anywhere though is no ‘gimme’ so when the Corey and Kylie Geran stable set Nikau Spur the task of chasing back-to-back wins in town on August 12, when stepping the chestnut up to a BM90 (from a BM78) and pushing the race distance out ever so slightly to 1835m (from 1815m), it was always going to be a tough assignment for the now seven-year-old, but, while the win did elude him, Nikau Spur did run out of his skin, to claim a highly creditable third place dead-heat, finishing just half-a-length behind the winner Tony Be, who carried 2kg less than the Geran Team trained runner.
Racing in midfield in the early right alongside Tony Be, Du Plessis held his position on Nikau Spur until the approach to the home turn where he brought Nikau Spur right into contention, circling four-wide, but now within a length of the lead.
Nikau Spur’s run home was strong with Du Plessis driving him to the front early in the straight, but with other challengers still very much in play all around him ... Shopping Esprit (the $2.60 favourite) to his immediate outside and Wairere Falls ($13) hard along his inside. Read more ...
NIKAU SPUR - ANOTHER BIG EFFORT. DOING TEAM GERAN AND KO RACING PROUD (AUGUST 12. 2023)
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If any horse has been knocking at the door trying to open the way to his first win, it has been Galway Hussler.
in four starts as a two-year-old, the Corey and Kylie Geran trained daughter of Husson finished third, second and then third and second again … maybe not against the strongest of opposition, but nevertheless showing a level of consistency while learning her trade which suggested that a win was certainly on the cards.
The stable targeted a QTIS Three-Year-Old Handicap over 1000m at the Sunshine Coast on August 6 as Galway Hussler’s first run as a three-year-old and the run she produced here underlined the progress she has been making while getting to grips with the task of learning how to win.
Starting at double figure odds of $11 with Mark Du Plessis in the saddle, Galway Hussler began quickly before taking up a trail in third place a little over a length behind the two leaders in the early part.
Up to the bend and on straightening, Galway Hussler was back to fourth and now some two-and-a-half lengths off the lead and she lost a further length on the frontrunners in the first half of the straight as she took a while to start going through her gears.
Approaching the 200m mark, though, Galway Hussler significantly increased her tempo. Reade more ...
GALWAY HUSSLER FINDS WINNING FORM (AUGUST 6. 2023)
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The chestnut gelding Torbreck gave Kobie O’Brien’s KO Racing a winning start to the new racing season when he saluted in the Nanango Cup Open Handicap over 1600m on August 5.
The now six-year-old son of Sebring had won four of his fourteen starts since relocating the Corey and Kylie Geran stable (from the training partnership of Ben and JD Haye) prior to lining up for the Nanango Cup … and, in two of his last five starts coming into this assignment he was deemed by the stable to be good enough to be given his chance in town.
While he did not place in either of those outings at Eagle Farm, he also did not finish that far back so, given the overall respectability of his form-line it arguably would be fair to say he was over the odds when he jumped at a starting price of $12.
Not that that bothered the KO Racing’s connection in the least, and the fact that the bookmakers had got it wrong only added to the pleasure of the large group of owners whose celebration has become one of the trademark features of KO Racing.
Torbreck was brave because this was no ‘gimme.’
The Corey and Kylie Geran trained runner was already putting in the hard yards mid-race where jockey Nathan Fazackerley pushed Torbreck into the lead and he still did not have a moment’s rest in the sweep to the home turn with a wall of horses trying to chase him down. Read more ...
IT'S TORBRECK'S NANANGO CUP! (AUGUST 5. 2023)
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Nikau Spur made a lot of ultra enthusiast owners very happy when he saluted in a BM78 over 1815m in town, at Eagle Farm, on July 29.
It was the KO Racing Syndicate brand’s fiftieth race winner and it came with the added bonus of a valuable city win which added a useful $42 700 to the prize-money earnings kitty.
Formerly with Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, the Corey and Kylie Geran trained New Zealand bred came into the race on the back of a close-up third placing in a Class 4 Handicap over 1666m at Ipswich just ten days earlier.
Mark Du Plessis was in the saddle that day, and he retained the ride here with Nikau Spur jumping at a starting price of an easy-to-back $17.
Nikau Spur settled just off the speed, in fifth some three lengths off the front-runner early. That became sixth place and five lengths back going down the back stretch, but Nikau Spur was always seemingly travelling well within himself with Du Plessis content to hold that position.
Up to fifth again, cornering three wide, Nikau Spur straightened with an undeniable chance of victory, but, with plenty of work still to do, the result would have to be hard earned. Read more ...
NIKAU SPUR LANDS A BIG PUNCH FOR KO RACING (JULY 29. 2023)
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While Nikau Spur was making merry at Eagle Farm on July 29, another Corey and Kylie Geran trained runner, In A Minute Riley, was helping the stable sign off on the 2022/23 season in style by completing a hat trick of wins in a BM58 Handicap over 1300m at her home base at Toowoomba.
The five-year-old daughter of Spill The Beans had finished out of first four on two occasions in her first ten starts … a set of results which included two runner-up finishes … at which time she was given a six month spell.
When In A Minute Riley resumed after that lengthy break, she quickly showed she was no longer a bridesmaid, shedding her Maiden ticket first-up at Gayndah over 1000m before making it two-in-a-row at Goodiwindi in a Class B Handicap over 1200m … and then keeping the fire going with this latest win in the opening race on the card at Toowoomba.
Landan Sykes, who had partnered In A Minute Riley in the first two wins of that sequence, gave way to Chris Whiteley for the Toowoomba contest, in which not even In A Minute Riley’s winning form and a number one barrier could persuade punters to stay with the Geran trained runner who went off at an $18 starting price.
THREE-IN-A-ROW FOR IN A MINUTE RILEY (JULY 29. 2023)
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FROM THE ARCHIVES: (AUGUST, SEPTEMBER 2022)
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Co-trainers Corey and Kylie Geran would have been forgiven had they left the track shaking their heads after the Dalby Cup meeting on September 17.
The stable saddled six runners on the day and came away with three runner-up results and two third place finishes … but in a game as competitive as horseracing, the Corey and Kylie Geran know, as well as anybody else, that second place is better than third place … and so on, meaning that they would have put their day in perspective and been pleased enough with their Dalby Cup Day efforts. Read more ...
NO CIGAR, BUT STILL A HEALTHY RETURN FROM DALBY CUP DAY FOR THE GERAN STABLE (SEPTEMBER 17)
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The Corey and Kylie trained Demon Delivera made it two wins from only five starts when he took out the QTIS Three-Year-Old Class 1 Plate over 1625m at his home track at Toowoomba on September 10.
The son of Deep Field came into the race off the back of two runs in town … which included an eye-catching second place to the more than useful, Tony Gollan trained Spiritualised (who would win again next time out to take three wins and three runner-up finishes from six starts).
While Demon Delivera did disappoint in the second of those two city runs, which were both in BM72 company, he still looked the pick of the small field of only three runners who lined up in this Class 1 contest at Toowoomba and he duly started favourite at $2 in his first race over a distance beyond 1350m.
Demon Delivera dawdled out of the starting gates, but Gary Geran was unfazed by the slow getaway and he wasted no time in showing his hand as he quickly urged Demon Delivera past the two horses in front of him before crossing both of them to lead … a position he gained with the minimum of fuss. Read more ...
DEMON DELIVERA TOO GOOD BACK ON HIS HOME TRACK (SEPTEMBER 10)
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The five-year-old chestnut gelding Torbreck won for the second time in his last three starts when he outgunned his opposition in a Class 3 Handicap over 1400m at the Sunshine Coast Poly Track meeting on September 8.
The son of Sebring had won over 1300m at Toowoomba two starts prior to this latest win … and, while he did finish just out of the placings in his follow-up start to that, that run was at a Saturday metropolitan meeting in a race won by Mob Buster, who is a five-time winner.
So, Torbreck had the credentials to win at his first taste on Poly Track action, and he did not disappoint.
The betting boards had Torbreck as the favourite at $2, but he did have Collay’s Spirit snapping at his heels in the money market … and that is pretty much how the raced turned out.
Torbreck jumped well enough and Matthew Powell pushed Torbreck along to move forward and establish an early but narrow lead over Caldwell ($91) who raced along his inside.
Going down the back stretch, Torbreck had no sooner left Caldwell behind when another, even longer priced outsider I’m The Business ($101) ranged up on his outside, trying to annoy him, but Powell was happy to allow I’m The Business to stay alongside him as he continued to keep his mount at a comfortable gallop. Read more ...
TORBRECK SALUTES FOR THE SECOND TIME IN HIS LAST THREE STARTS (SEPTEMBER 8)
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The Birdsville Race Club describes their Birdsville Cup Carnival as ‘as event like no other.’
It is on the ‘bucket list’ for so many racing enthusiasts … and the beauty of it is that anybody who goes there knows exactly what to expect … which includes anything from dust to mud to off track high jinks and drinks, to on track race action.
Ok, maybe there will be a few surprises, but, in general, people are there because they want to be there, particularly as it takes a while to make the trip. You certainly don’t arrive by chance.
For trainers, taking runners to the Birdsville Carnival adds another dimension to the logistics required to make as seamless a sortie into the outback as possible.
It takes some resolve to do it with horses to look after … and when a trainer comes away with a winner, it not only makes the whole effort worthwhile, but it also ticks that ‘Birdsville winner’ off the trainer’s own bucket list.
The Corey and Kylie Geran stable raced two horses over the 2022 Birdsville Carnival. Read more ...
A BIRDSVILLE WINNER FOR THE GERAN STABLE (SEPTEMBER 4)
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The seven-year-old mare Vinasta put a Cup win on the Corey and Kylie Geran training partnership’s resume when she proved too strong for her opposition in the Gympie Muster Cup, an Open Handicap contested over 1470m.
The daughter of I Am Invincible jumped as the $2.70 joint favourite with Dare To Share, who would never seriously get into the race, and she was up for the fight right from the break, joining in the hectic chase to the first turn and then going on with it from there.
Emily Lang had Vinasta in a close-up fifth place leaving that turn, but then she quickly took the Geran trained runner up to fourth, then third, then second by the time the field had reached the 800m mark.
Vinasta then held station for about 200m but, going through the 600m mark, Lang, who obviously knew how well Vinasta was travelling and how she enjoyed free-rolling, decided she had spent enough time behind the early leader, the $5.50 chance San Pierre, and she set Vanasta alight. Read more ...
VINASTA TAKES OUT THE GYMPIE MUSTER CUP FOR THE COREY AND KYLIE GERAN STABLE (AUGUST 20)
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Oh Wow! What a day August 13 was for the Corey and Kylie Geran Training Partnership.
Actually, if you saw the reaction of Corey Geran on the grandstand when Winside got up in the shadow of the post, ‘wow’ is probably an understatement … and the team didn’t stop there, taking out the first race at Toowoomba with Torbreck for good measure.
The ‘moment’ of the day was definitely the Winside win though and it came in a Class 6 Handicap over 1200m.
Five months earlier, Winside had given the Geran Racing Team their first metropolitan winner when she dead-heated with the very classy Go Wanji in a BM72 Handicap over 1100 at Toowoomba … but this was town, this was Eagle Farm making it a very special victory that was as well deserved as it was hard earned. (By the way, Go Wanji’s record currently stands at eight wins from eleven starts, underlining the quality of Winside’s run that day at Toowoomba). Read more ...
WINSIDE GIVES THE GERAN TRAINING PARTNERSHIP A MEMORABLE FIRST CITY METROPOLITAN WINNER (AUGUST 13)
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The first Saturday of the new season (August 6) was a very busy day for the Corey and Kylie Geran stable who saddled no less than nine runners across three separate meetings at Doomben, Toowoomba and Nanango.
Their winner for the day came at Nanango where the lightly raced grey mare Swift Miss Fox ($3) scored by a length, once again under the guidance apprentice Emily Lang, who had partnered the Geran trained Jack Be Lucky to victory four days earlier.
Swift Miss Fox, a five-year-old, was only having her sixth career start and has now put two wins behind her name.
The two other runners the Geran team took to Nanango … In A Minute Riley and Vanasta … both claimed third place finishes. Read more ...
A BUSY DAY, ANOTHER WINNER FOR GERAN RACING (AUGUST 6)
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Sometimes you have to win your race twice … and that’s ok … as long as the steward’s verdict comes down in your favour at the conclusion of a protest hearing after a protest has been fired in against your horse being declared the winner.
That is the process that the Corey and Kylie Geran stable had to endure when a protest was lodged against their race winner Jack Be Lucky following his win, by the narrowest of margins, over Boom By By in a Class 2 Handicap over 1200m.
Not that he needed it necessarily, but if ever a runner deserved to have luck go his way it was Jack Be Lucky.
Yes, he had won two out of his last four races, including a last start win … which meant he was sitting on a double success here … but he had also finished in second place no less than five times in his last eight starts and was less than half-a-length back on three of those occasions!
Another second place … if the protest (second against first) was upheld would have been hard to take. Read more ...
A PROTEST SCARE ... BUT JACK BE LUCKY PUTS THE FIRST WIN OF THE SEASON ON THE BOARD FOR GERAN RACING (AUGUST 2)
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