Horse Racing News: Geegees Blackflash Aims for 2014 Launceston Cup
Geegees Blackfash will not only target the Launceston Cup Wednesday but also a place in history as the John Luttrel-trained horse also aims to get past the $1 million career earnings, a first for any horse who has solely competed in Tasmania.
Geegees Blackflash, who is a gelding born in 2006 by Clangalang out of La Quita, has a race record of 17 wins in 52 starts and a total prize money of $916,900. This includes the win in the 2013 Launceston Cup when the then six-year old finished strong outworking Lucky Angel and Dream Pedlar by two lengths.
The Launceston Cup 2014 is the final of three group races in Tasmania’s Summer Racing Carnival. It is a Group 4 status race and ran over a 2,400 meter distance.
Lutrell is confident of a repeat from 2013 and fourth overall Launceston Cup.
“I know the horse has definitely improved (since the Hobart Cup), he's in great order. And I definitely think he's a three to four length better horse at Launceston on the track up there." Luttrel told Yahoo Sports New Zealand.
Geegees Blackflash is part of the 13-runners field that’ll start on Wednesday and his greatest rival will be Epingle, who won the recent Hobart Cup and gunning for back-to-back titles in Tasmania.
"I've had him since he was a baby and if he could do something like that on Wednesday - get to a million dollars - it would be beautiful," added Luttrell.
Epingle is the favourite among the horse racing books at 2.00 while Geegees Blackflash is at 3.80. Other top contenders are Surpass (8.00), Gee Gee's La Quita (11.00) and Gold To Go (14.00).