A GERAN DOUBLE - DIFFERENT TACTICS. SAME RESULT

By Graham Potter | Saturday, February 17, 2024

Skater and Unleash provided the Corey and Kylie Geran stable with another home town double at Toowoomba on February 17 when they saluted in a BM60 Handicap over 1625m and a Maiden Handicap over 1300m respectively.

Skater came into the race on the back of a runner-up finish over the same track and distance two weeks earlier and the expectations were there that he could improve on that effort with his price shortening from $3.20 to $2.50 at the off.

Jockey Anthony Allen made his intentions clear at the break as he chased Skater up from his wide draw to search for early lead. While he did encounter some resistance to that move from a couple of horses to his inside, Allen git his way after the field had covered 200m and Skater duly took up the running and he took the field down the back straight at a fairly leisurely gallop.

Allen then dictated terms to suit himself until approaching the home turn where Allen started to really get busy on Skater as the wall of horses lined up behind him started to apply pressure.

The kick was there on straightening, but the $3.40 second favourite Bie’res was in for the fight and, in fact, looked set to go right past Skater with 150m left to run.

Skater kept finding though, to not only hold Bie-res to a 0.30 length margin at the line, but also to be strong enough to keep a host of other challenges at bay as several runners chased home hard late in a rousing finish which ultimately saw less than a length cover the first five runners across the line.

It had been hard-earned, but the mares fourth carer victory was in the bank.
________________________________________________________________________

Two races later, the four-year-old Capitalist mare Unleash had the Geran team back in the winners’ enclosure.

It was a welcome change of fortune for Unleash who had raced seven times for trainer Michael Moroney (with two second places being her best results there) before transferring to the Geran stable, where she has remained a work in progress.

She was winning here in her fifth start for the stable and came home by a one length margin under Karl Zechner after following a totally different racing pattern to that undertaken by Skater, Geran’s earlier winner on the card.

Whereas Skater went forward from a wide draw. Unleash went back from the worst of the draw (barrier ten out of ten).

By mid-race, whereas Skater had dictated from the front, Unleash raced in midfield, with six horses in front of him ... and in the home straight, whereas Skater had to dig deep to hold all comers at bay in a race where the outcome could only be called in the final strides, Unleash, who had moved into contention in the sweep to the home turn, had to overpower the best of his rivals with a late charge, coming from behind, which he did to have his race won as early as the 100m.

Different tactics ... same result ... giving the Geran stable a double on the scoreboard.

More articles