MAHBABY'S STUNNING VICTORY IN THE COUNTRY STAMPEDE FINAL

By Graham Potter | Saturday, December 2, 2023

From a long way out, December 2 at Doomben was always going to be a big day out for the Corey and Kylie Geran stable who had qualified runners for both the $105 000 Country Stampede Final (over 1200m) and the $200 000 Country Cups Challenge Final (over 1600m).

The Stampede Final was the third race on the card and the Geran Team’s chances of victory were doubled in the piece when their emergency acceptor Mahbaby got a run after scratchings to join his stable-companion Jack Be Lucky in the final field.

Jack Be Lucky was going for four wins in-a-row after saluting at Gympie, Dalby and Roma, so he was very much an in-form horse ... but a sixteen-out-of-sixteen barrier draw was never going to do him any favours. Still, the respect was there for him. He would start as a $8 chance.

Mahbaby, on the other hand, had come up with a great draw in barrier four. Her form was consistent enough coming into the race (two wins and three places in her previous four starts) and she did find a medium of support with her price shortening from $16 to $11 at the off.

I Am Fearless, who had won in town before and who was bidding for a hat trick, was marked up as the horse to beat, starting favourite at $4.

In a sense, the betting boards had got it right. Perhaps the more accurate message there was, whoever beats I Am Fearless will probably win ... and that, indeed, proved to be the case when the result went up in the frame.

I Am Fearless certainly went out with the clear intent of taking no prisoners with Karl Zechner taking the Glenn Richardson trained main fancy into and immediate and bold lead, putting the pressure on his rivals early in an attempt to break up the field.

Halfway through the race that plan appeared to be working well. I Am Fearless was striding freely up front, two lengths ahead of Gossip Torque in second place and a little under four lengths clear of the third placed runner.

At that stage Mahbaby was all of nine to ten lengths back on the rail, saving ground all of the way.

On straightening, I Am Fearless maintained a resolute gallop with Gossip Torque closer now, snapping at the leader’s heels, but not quite getting there.

Ahwahneechee ($31), along the inside, and Dollop ($9.50), down the centre of the track, were also making up good ground, but none of these runners, including I Am Fearless, had any answer to the stunning finish of Mahbaby.

Kyle Wilson-Taylor began his move on the Geran trained runner early in the home straight, launching a run from some five to six lengths back and simply overpowering each and every rival that stood in his path on Mahbaby’s way to victory.

Her finish was powerful and captivating all in one as, although Mahbaby only hit the front inside the final 100m, it was apparent well before that she had built winning momentum and would get home if she remained strong to the line.

That she did in no uncertain terms, in the end winning every bit as convincingly as the official 2.68 margin suggests ... a remarkable statistic given the deficit she faced at the 400m mark.

This was a run full of merit produced on a day when connections wanted it most ... and what a ride it was by Kyle Wilson-Taylor who displayed patience, pace judgement, and finally a mix of fine balance and measured encouragement in the saddle as he guided Mahbaby down the home stretch.

Mahbaby, a five-year-old, is now a six-time winner from only seventeen starts and this feature win boosted her prize-money earnings to a very healthy $183 475.
There was no glory for Jack Be Lucky this time with the Geran trained runner, as was pretty much expected, becoming a victim of his barrier draw. He finished seventh, 5.16 lengths behind his stable companion.
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The day was already made for the Corey and Kylie Geran training partnership after Mahbaby’s win in the Country Stampede Final ... and although the old warrior Vinasta tried to add to the stable’s success in the Country Cup’s final, it was not to be with the eight-year-old hardly firing a shot when finishing 11.50 lengths behind the Country Cups final winner Fire King.

There was no real sadness with Vinasta’s result itself, but a touch of sadness certainly did set in not long after the race when the stable took the decision to retire Vinasta who left the racing scene with a very proud overall record of eleven wins and twenty-five placings from fifty-six starts.

Related to the Vinasta retirement, part-owner Brett Moody posted the following on social media:

‘farewell Queen V (Vinasta) thanks for the memories??. you brought me back into racing as a owner after decade or more out. yesterday wasn’t farewell u deserved but we set you too big a task from outside alley. but your record as cups queen will stand test of time.

'a $10k purchase your record for us: 40 starts over 3 years. 8wins ... 10x2nds ... 8x3rds pmoney $220820

'you won dalby picnic cup, warwick picnic cup, gympie muster cup, eidsvold cup, wondai cup, you were 2nd in country cups final, magic millions country cup, placed on a dalby newmarket and dalby cup plus multiple cup placings.

'you bought joy to your owners but also to your stable and carers

'special thanks to KO Racing Geran Racing for all your efforts’
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Meanwhile, on the same day, three hundred and fifty kilometres away, the Corey and Kylie Geran stable also had a winner at Goondiwindi with Dreamseeker saluting in a BM65 Handicap over 1400m.

After finishing second and then third in the two runs leading into her Goondiwindi assignment, the five-year-old daughter of Rubick, who jumped at a starting price of $5.50 with Michael McDonald in the saddle, raced towards the rear of the field in the early part, all of seven lengths off the leader, the free-striding Fitzroy Boy ($3.80).

Little changed until the approach to the home turn where McDonald started revving up Dreamseeker.

Saving ground, Dreamseeker was quickly up to third place on straightening, but still a little over two lengths off Fitzroy Boy, but the Geran trained runner made short work of that deficit, storming past the long-time leader inside the last 100m and staying strongly enough to the line to hold the $8 chance Charged, who had made his run with Dreamseeker, by 0.20 lengths.

This was Dreamseeker’s fifth win from twenty-nine starts. The mare also has nine minor places to her credit.

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