ISLAND TIDE'S STRONG FLOW OF WINNERS CONTINUES

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 (at Surat), Skater and Island Tide (at Toowoomba) all saluted on the day.

The All Too Hard mare, Island Tide, was the last leg of that stable treble, 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.

More articles