IT'S ALL HAPPENING FOR THE SEARS CAMP

By Graham Potter | Thursday, October 17, 2024

Maddy Sears, who trains in partnership with her father Tony, loves a challenge and that is why she is looking forward to a very busy and pretty exciting period over the next couple of months during which time she will face two very different and exacting challenges head-on … one which will be settled in the relative short-term, and the other which will have a more lasting impact on the future direction of the Sears stable.

In essence, the Sears camp is on the march … literally in more ways than one … with Sydney and the Gold Coast set to provide the backdrop to major moves by the stable.

A Sydney trip comes into play next Thursday when Maddy and her mother Leigh will float Yellow Brick, Saturday’s emphatic Tattersalls Members Cup winner, and Red Wave, who has the Ipswich Cup / Toowoomba Cup double to his credit, down south to line up their shot at the Sydney big race riches.

There is a lot at stake with Yellow Brick targeting the $1 Five Diamonds Prelude over 1500m on October 26 and the $2 million Five Diamonds over 1800m two weeks later, while Red Wave will tackle the $750 000 Group 3 Cravan Plate over 1800m on the same day as the Five Diamonds Prelude.

Tim Clark has been booked to ride Yellow Brick. Zac Lloyd will ride Red Wave.

Whatever the outcome of the Sydney campaign, Maddy Sears will return to Queensland ready to play a massive role in what will become a bigger picture for the Sears training partnership moving forward with the establishment of a new stable presence at the Gold Coast which Maddy Sears will run.

“That’s been in play for a long time,” said Maddy Sears. “We put in an expression of interest for stables there when the club put it out twelve months ago ... just on the off chance.

“We had nothing to lose and then when we had a bit of momentum coming out of the carnival, we spoke about it more in depth and then it has just progressively gone from there.

“We’ve always trained in Toowoomba. We’ve got a beautiful farm just seven minutes from the track ... and everything suits us well there, but I’m a goal-setting person and when I started training with mum and dad, I sort of set myself a goal by saying that in five years or so I would like to have a stable set up somewhere else.

“This is nearing the end of the fifth year ... and its happening!

“We’ve been given twenty boxes at the Gold Coast and our lease starts on December 2.

“I’m very excited and I’m a little bit nervous, but I know I’m extremely fortunate with the opportunity I’ve been given through the business with mum and dad to be able to do this and we are also very lucky with the clients we have who have been unbelievably supportive.

“It’s exciting.

“It’s a big step in the right direction.”

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