SEARS STABLE KEEPS THE SCOREBOARD MOVING

By Graham Potter | Saturday, February 22, 2025

Warrior Head, a three-year-old son of Headwater, claimed his Maiden victory in his seventh start when taking out a Maiden Handicap over 1300m at the Gold Coast on February 22.

Warrior Head was the first of two winners on the day for the Tony and Maddysen Sears training partnership. Kickatinalong saluted later in the day at Toowoomba.

The betting had Warrior Head a clearcut favourite to win the race at the restrictive odds of $1.95. It was $5 bar one with only two runners other than Warrior Head quoted in single figures with the remainder of the betting pushing all the way out to $61.

But it was to be no cakewalk.

Nozi Tomizawa had Warrior Head third into stride at the break, but then settled his mount into fifth place, one off the rail, in-between runners and racing three lengths … then two lengths … behind the leader.

Warrior Head pretty much held station the final approach to the home turn where Tomizawa edged the Sears trained runner wider out on the track where he would ultimately straighten all of five wide, but now right in the leading line.

Four runners remained stretched across the track until the 200m mark in a chase which had become the survival of the fittest, and it was Warrior Head who prevailed, edging ahead with 150m left to run and closing off strongly to keep the persistent challenge of Zoular ($15) at bay by 0.80 lengths.
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The racing career of the Tony and Maddysen Sears trained Kickatinalong continued its swift upward trend when the four-year-old mare made it back-to-back wins in only her third career start by taking out a BM58 Handicap over 1100m at Toowoomba on February 22.

Kickatinalong did not race as a two-year-old and only made her debut late in her three-year-old season back in May 2024, in which she finished less than a length behind the winner Adiella who would frank that form by going on to win two out of her next three starts.

For Kickatinalong though, it was back to the paddock for an extended nine-month break before resuming with her Maiden win at Gatton on February 8, 2025 which was achieved in a comfortable enough fashion for the Sears camp to give Kickatinalong the green light to go again in this BM58 Handicap just two weeks after his first career victory.

Starting as the $3.30 second favourite behind the strong main fancy Jenchick Boom ($1.85), Kickatinalong was held four wide for all of the back straight and throughout the long sweep to the home turn, but Luke Tarrant showed great confidence in his mount, allowing the daughter of Magnus to maintain a steady, but not overtaxing gallop … until the race came down to the business end of affairs where Tarrant set Kickatinalong down to work.

Cornering in second place, the run home became a two-part challenge for Kickatinalong.

First, she had to run down the leader Toute Sweet ($11), a task she accomplished as early as the 200m mark … where Kickatinalong then had to cope with the threat of Vast Kama ($10), who had tracked Kickatimalong into the race.

Again, Kickatinalong was up for the task, staying on strongly to the line to ward off Vast Kama, Kickatinalong’s only danger, by a clear two length margin.

Kickatinalong’s first two career wins had come by a combined total of 4.47 lengths.

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