MAYA BAY LANDS HIS FIRST CITY VICTORY

By Graham Potter | Saturday, July 23, 2022

A city Saturday winner is always a pleasure for any trainer and the four-year-old chestnut gelding Maya Bay gave the Tony and Maddysen Sears training partnership a win to savour when he landed a No Metro Wins Handicap over 1200m at Doomben on July 23.

The chestnut came into the race with a very good overall strike-rate of four wins from sixteen starts, but the fact that the gelding had not saluted in his four previous starts (his last win had come on December 23, 2021) did allow him start at the easy to back odds of $4.80 … which was still enough to make him favourite in what was deemed to be an open race.

Kyle Wilson-Taylor, the newly crowned Brisbane Apprentice Jockey Premiership winner, was handed the reins by Team Sears, and the young rider had Maya Bay well away enough at the break before settling in sixth place in the early part, caught a little wide, some four lengths off the lead.

Maya Bay was up to fifth, now just two lengths back, in the sweep to the home turn. He was up to fourth on straightening but Wilson-Taylor than had to decide on a run when faced with a line of three horses in front of him.

The decision came down to a switch to the inside … and that move proved to be spot on as a gap appeared one off the running rail, allowing Maya Bay to surge through the opening to join issue with the $20 outsider He’s The News, who had hit the front with 200m left to run.

Maya Bay wasted no time in winning that battle, quickly leaving He’s The news behind, to race away to a very solid 1.25 length victory.

Not only is Maya Bay now a five-time winner from seventeen starts, but this latest win also took his prize-money earnings (which have been added to by no less than four runner-up finishes) right past the $100 000 mark and on to a highly creditable $118 820.

Another notable aspect of the win was that this was Maya Bay’s first success away from his home track of Toowoomba where he has gained all of his other victories … which highlighted the important, positive progression being made by the son of Headwater at this time.

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