MISS MCKINLEY PREVAILS IN A TIGHT FINISH

By Graham Potter | Saturday, April 1, 2023

Any time you can saddle a stable quinella is a good result and the Tony and Maddysen Sears training partnership did just that when Miss McKinley and Maya Bay finished first and second respectively in a BM70 Handicap over 1300m at Toowoomba on April 1.

In a five-horse field Miss McKinley ($4.40) and Maya Bay ($4.80) were not amongst the top two fancies with Overseas ($2.70) and Eelloh ($2.90) battling for supremacy at the top of the betting boards.

In a tightly bunched field, Eelloh set the early gallop with Miss McKinley and Maya Bay in close attendance as only a little over three lengths covered the entire field down the back stretch.

With the exception of the $51 outsider Simon Says, who started to come under pressure on the sweep to the home turn, there was no real change to the order with everybody just lining up their challenges, waiting until the field straightened to stake their claim.

Then those challenges came with a rush.

Eelloh tried to kick on. Miss McKinley was quick to threaten close on his outside. Maya Bay, in turn, was also quickening nicely hard on the outside of his stable-mate, while the favourite Overseas had to angle back to the inside for a run, but also looked set to charge to the line.

For a moment it looked like all four of these runners would join issue in a line across the track, and it was indeed a four way contest with 150m left to run, but Miss McKinley, with Michael Hellyer on board, had gained a narrow advantage over Maya Bay at that stage and that’s how they went to the line with the daughter of Dawn Approach saluting for the sixth time in her career from only eighteen starts, thus maintaining her very healthy strike-rate.

She had to stay fully committed late as only a length separated the first four horses across the line.

More articles