JACKED UP GETS THE SEARS TRAINING PARTNERSHIP OFF TO A HAPPY START FOR THE NEW YEAR

By Graham Potter | Thursday, January 5, 2023

The Tony And Maddysen Sears Training partnership wasted little time in getting their names onto the scoreboard in 2023 with their first runner for the new year, Jacked Up, saluting at Gatton over 860m on January 5.

The lightly raced son of Better Than Ready was first-up (in only his fourth career start) after a five-and-a-half month break from race action and, perhaps significantly, he returned to the track and distance he had tackled when landing his Maiden win back on June 22.

Although Jacked Up did not flatter with an unplaced run ... in town, it should be noted ... in his follow-up run after his maiden win, there was still enough respect for the Sears trained runner here to see him start as the second favourite at $3.50.

Jockey Jake Molloy, was another common factor going back to the Maiden win, having piloted Jacked Up to victory on that occasion, interestingly enough, on the only other occasion he had ridden the horse.

Jacked Up wasn’t well away at the break, and the three-year-old took up a trailing position at the rear of the field, some six lengths off leader in the early part ... not quite the position you would have hoped for in an 860m dash.

Molloy rode for luck, staying along the inside as the field went through the 400m mark. That meant that Jacked Up saved ground and Molloy duly coaxed his mount in a challenging position on straightening, just two lengths off the action, but his path to victory still had to be forged.

Jacked Up was held up, just momentarily, at the 200m mark, but a gap opened up quickly enough for Molloy to be able to ask Jacked Up to fully stretch out and set sail fir home.

By the time he did, five runners were stretched across the track and that is when Jacked Up showed that he was indeed the best horse in the race as he powered away to a clearcut victory, taking his record to two wins and a runner-up finish from four starts.

More articles