TASMANIA unveiled its latest turf super star at The TOTE Racing Centre in Launceston last week when five-year-old Geegees Blackflash made a class field of weight-for-age performers looks ordinary in the feature race over 1400 metres.
Is he the best galloper in Tasmania? Most pundits say he is but if he achieves all of the goals set by his trainer John Luttrell then the five-year-old gelding will probably be regarded as one of the best of all time.
Geegees Blackflash was coming off a first-up win in the Newmarket Handicap (1200m) but that was nothing compared to the way this former Tasmanian Derby winner toyed with his rivals over the slightly longer trip.
The gelding’s trainer John Luttrell said Geegees Blackflash has pulled up well from his second-up assignment and is poised to extend his winning streak over the next two months.
“I was confident the horse would win last week but to do what he did to that great field was quite amazing,” Luttrell said.
“This horse is not going to be at his best until he gets over distances beyond 2000 metres so what he is doing at the moment is a bonus.”
“I’ve never trained a horse with so much versatility and these days he is a real professional the way he goes about his business,” he said.
Geegees Blackflash will have his next start in the $90,000 weight-for-age Kevin Sharkie Stakes over 1600 metres at Tattersall’s Park Elwick next Tuesday.
He will then tackle the Betfair Summer Cup, a quality handicap over 2100 metres at the same venue on January 22 before lining up in the AAMI Hobart and Launceston Cups.
“We originally planned to look at the Devonport Cup as part of his program but we decided against it and will focus on the Hobart and Launceston Cups as his main targets,” Luttrell said.
“He has pulled up great after his win last week. He’s feeling so good in himself it’s scary,” he said.
Geegees Blackflash is owned by Paul and Elizabeth Geard who have invested heavily in the local thoroughbred industry, to the point where they are clearly the state’s most prominent owners.
All of their horses carry the Gee Gee moniker and at last count they have over 100 horses on the books of which about half are in work in various stables but most are with Luttrell.
“Geegees Blackflash gave us our first big win (Group 3 Tasmanian Derby) and the way he’s going he might bring home a Hobart or Launceston Cup,” Paul Geard said.
While most owners and trainers look to take their well-performed steeds interstate if they dominate on Tassie soil but not the Geards.
“We buy or breed our horses to race in Tasmania and that’s how we plan to keep it,” Geard said.
That’s a very patriotic attitude but one wonders if he would bend the rule if he had one that shaped as a genuine Melbourne Cup prospect.
While Geegees Blackflash (Clangalang-La Quita) takes all before him this preparation, the Geards have his half-sister Gee Gees La Quita (x Atlantis Prince) on target to tackle the Thousand Guineas and possibly the Tasmanian Oaks.
Gee Gees La Quita is prepared by Stuart Gandy who, along with his partner Ruth Wooley, manage the Geards’ racing property at Broadmarsh