CONNECTICUT TOUGHS IT OUR TO WIN AT LONG ODDS

By Graham Potter | Saturday, April 6, 2024

Fresh from their triumph with Celestial Harbour at Rockhampton on Friday, the Saturday set of results on April 6 put the icing on the cake for the weekend for the Corey and Kylie Geran training partnership and the KO and KC Thoroughbred Racing Group.

Connecticut’s win in town at Eagle Farm was a big win in many respects.

Firstly, the son of Written Tycoon, who had previously been with trainer Michael Moroney, had shown to good advantage in both of his first two starts for the Geran stable and this win cemented the fact that his form trajectory was on the right path, not just because of the win, but because of the manner in which it was achieved.

And what about the price! Connecticut started at $21.

Trapped four wide early, but racing in fourth place, Connecticut pressed forward into third place as the field went down the back straight and Kyle Wilson-Taylor kept the Geran trained runner holding that position all the way through the sweep to the home turn.

Approaching the home turn Wilson-Taylor slipped Connecticut up to join the leaders, racing two wide, and he quickly slipped into a close-up second place and then just as quickly took over the lead early in the straight ... but it was going to be a long run home.

Connecticut was strong but, in the early part of the straight Mascaret ($5.50) and Sacred Feeling (the $2.30 favourite), went with him, putting the Geran trained runner under severe pressure with still half of the straight ahead of them.

In a real test of strength, Sacred Feeling was the first to cry enough but, try as he might ... and he was giving everything, Connecticut could not get away from the persistent challenge of Mascaret, who was up to within a half-a-length of Connecticut just inside the last 100m ... and closing.

Connecticut simply would not give in though. His was a brilliant commitment to the cause ... remember he had to work early as well ... and he fought ... and fought ... and fought ... to, in the end, deny the Chris Waller trained Mascaret and claim victory by the narrowest of margins in a quite pulsating finish.
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So, that was a win in Rocky on Friday ... a win in town at Eagle Farm on Saturday ... and the Corey and Kylie Geran stable were not finished yet.

Fast-forward to the night meeting at Toowoomba, also on April 6, and it was the turn of Touch Of Gracie to keep the Team Geran / KO and KC Thoroughbred Group combination on the march with a win in a Class 2 Handicap over 1300m.

Touch Of Gracie has been yet another astute purchase by KO Racing with the now four-year-old mare being picked up after racing seven times without success for the Ciaron Maher and David Eustace stable.

This latest win was her second in five starts for the Geran team, and she finished second, third and fourth in the other three outings.

Jumping as the $2.45 favourite, Touch Of Gracie settled fourth then third, having the inside run some two-and-a-half lengths behind the leader as the field went down the back straight.

Karl Zechner pushed Touch Of Gracie past the already tiring $101 outsider Glengarry at the 600m to move into second place and, from there, he had the leader Purezza ($6) firmly in his sights as the latter brought the field to the home turn.

Purezza straightened with only a narrow advantage over Touch Of Gracie and both of these runners then went full bore, engaging in a stride for stride battle which would last the whole length of the straight.

Neither horse nor rider was prepared to give an inch but, when it mattered most, Zechner was able to just get that vital bit extra out of his mount which was enough to secure Touch Of Gracie a hard fought victory and round off a highly successful weekend for his connections.

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