THE owners of Genuine Lad took a big gamble when they refused a $180,000 offer for the horse – and yesterday they were glad they did, after he produced a trademark tough performance to win the $225,000 Launceston Cup.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Longford trainer and part-owner Bill Ryan revealed that the offer came from Melbourne after Genuine Lad had won just three races and was ‘‘a lot of money for an inexperienced Tasmanian horse’’.
However, Ryan and his co-owners – wife Mary, Maurice and Jenny Mace and Andrew Jones – thought they had something special, and yesterday’s fighting win over Banca Mo and Geegees Blackflash proved them right.
Genuine Lad has won $257,000 with the promise of more to come. He will have his next start in the $400,000 Adelaide Cup on March 9.
‘‘Craig Williams thought that would be a good option and said that he’d probably be available to ride him,’’ Ryan said. So that’s where he’ll go. It’s only 12 days away but that won’t worry this horse – he’s the toughest I’ve ever trained.’’
It was Ryan’s first Launceston Cup, either as a trainer or in his previous life as a jockey. ‘‘I didn’t have many rides in the race, because I was too heavy, but I did finish third one year (1976) on Terarco,’’ he recalled.
‘‘As luck would have it, we ran into a horse called Brallos.’’
Genuine Lad had run seven consecutive minor placings leading into yesterday’s race, which prompted a decision to change jockeys. ‘‘We thought a change might make a difference and you can’t get much better than Craig Williams – he’s an international-class rider,’’ Ryan said.