GEE I JANE
The classy Sprinter won G1 races but was super unlucky in her career
Gee I Jane stamped herself as a mare of immense potential and value, when as only a two-win horse easily accounted for some of the countries best sprinters in the Gr.2 Concorde at Avondale Racecourse. Her owners resisted the urge to sell her after several big offers for the classy racemare. Her time of 1:08.32 for the 1200m was impressive, and probably garnered the attention of prospective buyers excited at the idea of scoring such a slick sprinter. After winning on debut at New Plymouth in September of 2004, she won again at Ellerslie in November over 1200m before facing the sprint feature out in West Auckland.
Gee I Jane out of the sire Jahafil and is the 4th foal out of the broodmare, Miss Distinction (by Bletchencore). Gee I Jane is one of four stakeswinners by Jahafil and the only one whose aptitude is for sprinting, although he's also left two stakes-placed sprinters. Jahafil himself won up to a mile-and-three-quarters in England. Miss Distinction won only once before a bone chip forced her retirement. Her first foal, Miss Jessie Jay won nine races, including two at Group level. Miss Katella, the second foal, recorded one win and several minor placings, while her third foal, Superb Quality was a multiple winner in Singapore. Gee I Jane was sent to Neville Couchman’s stable at Cambridge - an astute move by her breeders, Kieran McCarthy and L.J. Mackie.
Her next initial significant assignment was the Group 1 Railway (1200m) at Ellerslie on New Year's Day, which unfortunately turned out to be an extremely unlucky event for the mare. Drawing wide, Michael Walker settled her at the rear, found herself blocked in the straight behind a wall of horses and shifted sharply to find racing room. With the heart the size of a lion she powered home to grab 2nd behind Reacurring. A trip to South Australia saw the mare score minor placings at Morphettville before traveling on to Melbourne. A lone win at Moonee Valley in a 1200m Handicap in June of 2005 was her best result. In only her second season of racing, Gee I Jane started eight times for two outstanding wins and three placings, two of them at Group One level. These came after three unplaced starts in Melbourne during a spring campaign where little went right for the mare.
On January 1, 2006, Gee I Jane made a comeback in the Gr.1 Railway in Auckland, aiming to rectify the disappointments of the preceding year. Running midfield she finished fast along the inside but failed to pick up the eventual winner, Baldassarini. Her G1 maiden victory finely arrived a few weeks later in the Telegraph (1200m) at Trentham, running clear over the final 250m in a blistering time of 1:07.77. In February she took on the Gr.1 WFA Waikato Draught Sprint.(1400m), running third to Kristov and Darci Brahma. Back to 1200m for the Gr.3 WFA Darley Plate, Gee I Jane was unlucky again, flying late when clear over the last 200m, but able to claim La Sizeranne.
In May, Gee I Jane travelled to Queensland and took out the first running of the 1200-metre BTC Cup at Group One level. And she did it in a manner that, for a moment or two, summoned the memory of another Kiwi sprinter who came from impossible positions to win big sprints in Queensland. Gee I Jane isn't in the same class as the champion Rough Habit, but her Doomben run was uber impressive all the same. In June, a second-place finish in the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) at Eagle Farm was followed by another second-place finish in the Winter Stakes (1500m), concluding a highly successful Australian campaign. Following a winter hiatus, a high-stakes mission to Melbourne for the Gr.1 Salinger Stakes yielded disappointing results. Consequently, Couchman strategically repositioned the mare for participation in the esteemed New Zealand summer Carnivals.
Returning for her third Gr.1 Railway attempt in 2007, Gee I Jane missed out once again, storming home late from midfield to miss by half a head from Donna Rosita.
Darci Brahma won the Gr.1 Telegraph from the classy Seachange, while Gee I Jane finished a fair 6th, before another hit and run mission to Moonee Valley for the Gr.1 Australian Stakes proved unsuccessful, 7th to Miss Andretti. Back at Ellerslie in March, the mare flew late again in the Gr.3 Darley Plate to finish 3rd prior to another short let up. A final campaign planned for Queensland would prove ineffective, with six runs in feature black type events before a 3rd in her last ever race at Grafton. Despite a change in routine with visits to the beach and some pony jumps, nothing seemed to switch her on, and the little sprinting mare was retired. Gee I Jane died in 2009 while in foal after a freak accident in Australia.
Race record - 35: 6-7-5
Earnings - $882,389
G2 Concorde Stakes
G1 Telegraph Sprint
G1 Waikato Sprint
G1 BTC Cup
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