THE POOL BOY SCORES BY THE NARROWEST OF MARGINS

By Graham Potter | Friday, January 16, 2026

The lightly raced Tony and Maddysen Sears trained three-year-old The Pool Boy claimed a second career win in only his fifth start when taking out a Class 2 Showcase Handicap over 1400m at Ballina on January 16.

The son of Too Darn Hot had won on debut over 1000m at Casino back in May 2025, but then, after two trials, only reappeared in November, resuming with a runner-up finish, again over 1000m.

Two further runs in this latest preparation brought a fourth place and a sixth place finish, that last result being when stepping up to 1200m for the first time.

In spite of The Pool Boy finishing unplaced there, the Sears team persevered with a further increase in distance for The Pool Boy, taking him to this latest Ballina assignment which was a contest over 1400m.

The Pool Boy, who started second favourite at $3.20, had a fifth different jockey in the saddle in as many starts in the form of Brandon Lerena and Lerena make certain that the Sears trained runner jumped well at the break, before getting the gelding to settle in a perfect third place on the rail, trailing the leader Thunderous by a two lengths and racing just a length behind the second placed Valouri ($4.20).

Lerena had to get to work on The Pool Boy approaching the home turn as Valouri went up to join Thunderous with those two runners threatening to slip away at the head of affairs.

That suddenly left The Pool Boy with three lengths to make up on straightening and the Sears trained runner had to dig deep, even to just start making ground, but he did indeed start to go through his gears and, when Valouri beat off the challenge of Thunderous with 150m left to run, Lerena now had a clear, single target in his sights.

The Pool Boy swiftly gained what was to become a winning momentum, but when he moved up alongside Valouri, the latter kept on fighting all the way to the line where it was very difficult to separate these two runners by the naked eye.

The photo favoured The Pool Boy by the narrowest of margins, a case of perseverance and focussed commitment getting its reward.

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