A TOOWOOMBA DOUBLE FOR TEAM SEARS, TOMIZAWA

By Graham Potter | Saturday, March 15, 2025

While Steady Ready was claiming the Sears stable headlines at Eagle Farm on the afternoon of March 15 … Inspired Dream and Cape Crusader kept the home fires burning, giving the Tony and Maddysen Sears training partnership a double at the night meeting at Toowoomba.

Inspired Dream provided something of a surprise package in a Class 1 Plate over 1200m.

After finishing unplaced in her previous two starts, the six-year-old daughter of Divine Prophet was unwanted in the betting, drifting from $14 to a starting price of $21.

She had shown to good advantage in two of her three previous starts over the track and distance though (twice finishing as a close-up runner-up) and the Sears’ camp brought her back to the 1200m trip here after racing over 1300m at the Gold Coast in her start prior to this.

Inspired Dream, with Nozi Tomizawa on board, raced just worse than midfield in the early part, giving the leaders some six lengths start.

That changed in the long sweep to the home turn as Tomizawa let Inspired Dream slide forward and the Sears runner quickly made up ground, albeit four to five wide, to the point where she was able to straighten in fourth place, within touching distance of the leading trio.

Inspired Dream was given something more to cope with though as these runners tightened up early in the home straight with Inspired Dream being bumped on more than one occasion which could well have affected her focus but, instead, she shrugged that off as a minor inconvenience before staying on strongly, eating up the pressure all the way to the line to score by 0.20 lengths from the persistent challenge of Oriente ($9).
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Four races later, Cape Crusader gave Tony and Maddysen Sears and Nozi Tomizawa a double on the night.

Cape Crusader, who jumped on the third line of betting ($4.20) … his stable companion Farwest was the #2 favourite … landed just behind the leading line, before drifting back into the second half of the field as the runners went down the back stretch, some six lengths off the lead.

Just as Tomizawa had done in the Inspired Dream win, the rider sent Cape Crusader forward in the sweep to the home turn.

Like Inspired Dream, Cape Crusader made up ground quickly, three wide, and the son of Heroic Valour only had one horse in from of him as he straightened for home.

That horse was the $3.30 second favourite Earl Of Devon, who was clearly up for the fight.

Cape Crusader had to work hard to reel in Earl Of Devon … and even when he had narrowly headed his rival inside the final 150m, Earl Of Devon refused to go away, instead kicking on in spirted fashion to continue to pressure Cape Crusader until the very last stride.

On the line, Cape Crusader had secured a hard-fought win by 0.25 lengths.

The Sears trained favourite Farwest finished third, hitting the line well enough after only getting into the race late.

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