Adapting to mainland competition brought frustrations for Geegees Mistruth, but the ex-Tasmanian mare delivered the standout moment of her career, conquering the Group 1 Robert Sangster Stakes (1200m) at Morphettville on Saturday.
Stuart Gandy handled her early career, during which she won stakes races at two and placed thrice in Melbourne Group features in Spring 2024.
En route to Mark Walker’s Cranbourne operation, she added two Group 3 scalps, then managed four placings from six starts there despite periodic misfortune, paying dividends with her ultra-close Saturday score.
Jordan Childs guided her along a prime path, enabling the $31 outsider to lunge at Bridal Waltz ($6.50) in the dying strides for a nose triumph, infinitesimally ahead of prior Sangster winner Charm Stone ($6.50) who was third.
The blanket finish saw Flying For Fun ($13) beaten a mere half-head in fourth, prompting assistant trainer Ben Gleeson to celebrate the overdue win for the skilled four-year-old.
“Her journey this spring and the autumn just sums up racing. It’s a lot of lows, but when the highs happen, they’re worth it,” Gleeson said.
“This filly arrived in our care back in the spring, and she came over in great order. Stuart Gandy, who has done all the work with her as a young horse and done a wonderful job.
“We just sort of thought, God, when are we going to get some luck with her? At least we got her when it counted most.
“She just peeled off their backs and I thought, ‘Oh, here we go.’
“She very rarely changes legs, and you sort of saw her do it for the first time in a long time.
“Credit to Jordy – he got his hands down in her neck and got the head down when it counted.”
This marked Childs’ second maximum triumph, following eight years after his breakthrough in the 2016 Blue Diamond Stakes.
“It’s been a long time between drinks,” Childs said.
“Written By in 2018, I’ve had quite a few placings in between in the big group ones, and I was sort of hoping my second one would come a bit sooner, but anyway, still very grateful for the ride and the connections.
“Once I presented her, she quickened up well, we were getting challenged by the other horses, and she was able to hold on.”
“I wasn’t sure (who won), and I was looking up the drone to see where it was going, and it was pretty close to me, but Zahra was there as well, so I wasn’t sure if it was me and him, and then he said that I won.
“Winning another group one, it’s great.”
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