NIGHTLINE UNDERLINES HER POTENTIAL

By Graham Potter | Tuesday, November 4, 2025

The Tony and Maddysen Sears trained Nightline underlined her potential with a dominant win in only her second career start when easily accounting for her opposition in a QTIS Three-Year-Old Maiden Plate at the Sunshine Coast on November 4 … Melbourne Cup Day.

The New Zealand bred did not race as a two-year-old and it was two months into her three-year-old campaign when she first saw race action on October 4.

She drifted all the way out from an opening call of $8.50 to start as a $16 chance there, but she powered home well enough to secure an eye-catching runner-up finish, just 0.20 lengths behind the strongly fancied Bruckheimer ($1.70).

Franking that debut form of Nightline was the fact that Bruckheimer would go on to race another two times in October and continue his winning ways to complete a hat trick of wins.

So it was that this time it was Nightline came into her Melbourne Cup day assignment at the restrictive odds of $1.90 … and she got the job done under Kirk Matheson, in the end winning as she liked by a clearcut 1.96 lengths.

Matheson found a good enough position early on Nightline in the first half of the race … fourth, two lengths back … but the inexperienced daughter of Redwood wasn’t proving to be the easiest of rides.

She had begun awkwardly, raced wide, was running around mid-race … and, although close enough if good enough, Nightline was also not going to make it any easier for herself in the home straight.

With Nightline cornering three wide and now right in the firing line, Matheson put his foot on the accelerator early, and Nightline duly answered the call.

The Sears trained runner accelerated smartly, struggled to hold a straight line, running in and giving the leader Lock In ($7.50) a slight bump as she breezed by to push her way to the head of affairs.

Nightline also seem to tighten Vintage Vibes, who had threatened along the inside rail, inside the last 100m … but, while Nightline may have been a bit wayward, she was also strong to the line with that margin of victory taking any thought of a protest out of the equation.

Nightline was just too good.