Brighton trainer Stuart Gandy was a shade unlucky not to pick up a stakes win in Victoria this spring with his classy filly Geegees Mistruth but he got some consolation when Geegees Gemstone scored a brilliant win in the first listed race in Tasmania this season, the $150,000 TTC Newmarket Handicap (1200m) at Launceston on Wednesday night.

 The Alpine Eagle gelding was luckless in the Goodwood Handicap at Hobart first up, hitting the line hard only to run into a dead end late, but on Wednesday enjoyed a trail in midfield under Anthony Darmanin before hooking wide on the home turn and running on strongly to defeat local champ The Inevitable.
The runner-up was gallant in defeat under 61kg (conceding the victor 7kg) while underrated mare Alvarinho was just a head further back in third position.
Gandy's exciting sprinter has now won eight of his 15 appearances with six of those wins coming from just eight starts at Launceston. 

The win completed a running double for Darmanin, who also took the benchmark 68 handicap over 1400 metres on the Mark Ganderton-trained Exalted Crown. 

The other feature at Wednesday night’s meeting, the $125,000 3YO Cup, went to Siggy Carr's highly promising filly Ms Tasmania.

The daughter of Magnus had little luck from her outside alley and raced keenly throughout, which forced rider Troy Baker to make his move earlier than intended, but she just kept finding to wear down pacemaker Magnaprime right on the line.
Carr's charge has now won four of her five outings, but the dual licence-holder is unsure whether to press onto the 3YO Trophy over 1400 metres on December 12 or keep her filly to shorter journeys, which could entail a trip interstate. 

 The feature win also gave Carr and Baker a double at the meeting as they won earlier with Miss Tanzanite, who scored an overdue maiden win over 1400 metres at her 16th attempt.
The daughter of Needs Further had placed at her past seven appearances and had to dig deep after facing the breeze to secure her first success over the fast-finishing Mateus.