BOLTING LEO LAPS UP THE POLY TRACK

By Graham Potter | Friday, January 21, 2022

Having taken out the last race at the Sunshine Coast with Royale Return on Sunday, January 16, the Tony and Maddysen Sears Training Partnership were right back at it again with their very next runner in a race which again took place at the Sunshine Coast, this time on Friday, January 21.

The Sears camp sent out the lightly raced three-year-old gelding Bolting Leo in the opening event on the card, a Maiden Plate over 1100m which was one of the two races on the day contested on the Poly Track surface.

Bolting Leo was only racing for the third time, but he had shown enough progressive improvement from his first start (when sixth, 4.10 lengths back in a Maiden over 1050m at Toowoomba) to his second outing (when third, 2.10 lengths behind the winner in a Maiden over 1000m at the Sunshine Coast where he raced for the first time on the Poly Track) to suggest more was to come.

That possibility was reflected in the betting which saw Bolting Leo start as joint favourite at $3.30.

At the start there was a rush for the early lead with as many as six horses fighting for early superiority.

Ben Thompson, who was riding Bolting Leo for the first time, didn’t get directly involved in the rush up front, but he did make sure Bolting Leo carried enough pace to stay in contention as he kept Bolting Leo holding a fairly close-up watching brief on the leaders, never being further than three lengths off the action.

Bolting Leo cornered five wide with three lengths to make up on straightening. He did start to build momentum then. At the 250m mark though, it looked like he might just have been left with a little bit too much to do, but that fear for his connections was soon dispelled as Bolting Leo surged to the front inside the final 100m under what turned out to be a perfectly judged ride from Thompson.

It was a comfortable win in the end, as shown by the winning margin of 0.80 lengths, and the run would undoubtedly have served as a valuable experience for a young horse who is still learning his trade.

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