A TWO VENUE TREBLE FOR THE GERAN STABLE

By Graham Potter | Saturday, September 7, 2024

A treble for the day.

That was the washup for the Corey and Kylie Geran training partnership on September 7, after Jack Be Lucky, Skater and Island Tide all saluted on the day.

It’s over four hours drive from Toowoomba (where the Geran stable is based) to Surat , but Team Geran had no hesitation in sending Jack Be Lucky to tackle an Open Plate over 1200m at a non-Tab meeting at the country venue and the seasoned old warrior did not disappoint, although the winning margin of 0.20 lengths under apprentice Samantha Zoljan was arguably a lot closer than might have been anticipated from Jack Be Lucky’s $1.30 starting price.
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Later that day/night, the Geran stable paid another two visits to the winners’ enclosure at Toowoomba.

Skater was the first Geran trained runner to salute at Toowoomba and the daughter of Jabali was certainly due for a win, having finished second and third in the two starts leading into this BM58 Handicap assignment over 1625m.

That form was good enough to see her installed as the $2.40 race favourite under Jasper Franklin, with her stable companion It’smemario being the closet to Skater in the betting as the $3.80 second favourite.

Skater, who jumped from barrier six in the nine-horse field, was taken forward in a measured fashion by Franklin, before assuming the lead after the field had travelled 200m.

Once there, Franklin allowed Skater to dictate the tempo of the race to her own advantage as she took the field down the back stretch. That said, she didn’t really ever get a moments rest as the $81 bolter Force Me provided some close-up nuisance value to Skater’s outside for much of the running (before falling away in the home straight) and with Zouzouamore ($5.50) trying to steal a march on them all with a swift forward move approaching the home turn.

Into the home straight, Skater led Zouzouamore by a length, and she would hold off that rival all the way down the straight, but there was more to deal with than that.

A fast-moving wall of horse formed across the track, closing in on Skater inside the last fifty metres, including Skater’s stable companion It’smemario, but Skater still had a half-a-length in hand crossing the line to claim a sixth career victory from thirty-two starts overall ... and a fifth career victory in seventeen runs for the Geran stable.
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And the Geran stable was not finished yet with the All Too Hard mare, Island Tide, adding to her already impressive strike-rate for the Geran stable with a win in a BM70 Handicap over 870m.

The five-year-old mare has been something of a short course specialist since transferring to the Geran stable from trainer David Vandyke.

This was Island Tide’s fourth win from seven starts for the Corey and Kylie Geran training partnership ... with the distances over which those wins were achieved ... 800m, 860m 800m and 870m ... telling their own story.

The betting called the race a three-way battle between Island Tide at $3.70, and the two joint favourites Devil’s Rite and Capital Gain (who both started at $3.50). While these three runners did indeed fill the first three placings, it was not the close contest the betting had predicted.

Landan Sykes, who has been the only jockey to ride Island Tide since she changed stables, clearly knows Island Tide well and the young rider, who still brings a 3kg claim advantage to proceedings when he gets the leg up, had absolutely no hesitation in asking Island Tide to use her impressive gate speed to spear up, cross the field and claim the early lead and establish a useful buffer of just under a two length margin.

From there, Island Tide never blinked and her strong gallop stretched the field out behind her.

Devil’s Rite and Capital Gain were the only two runners to stay reasonably close to Island Tide, but that was still a two length margin and, although Devi’s Rite chased hard all the way down the home straight, he was unable to make any inroads on the free-running, Geran trained runner who won in emphatic fashion by a two length margin.

GG Racing’s selection process continues to shine with Island Tide now having a $36 470 return on investment in seven runs over the three months since racing in GG Racing’s distinctive turquoise and hot pink silks.

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