A HOME TOWN DOUBLE FOR THE SEARS RACING STABLE

By Graham Potter | Saturday, May 20, 2023

There’s nothing like a home-town double to keep a smile on your face and the Tony and Maddysen Sears training partnership put that score on the board at Toowoomba on May 20.

Montana Lady, racing first-up, saluted in the second race on the card, winning a Fillies and Mares BM62 Handicap by a clearcut 1.50 length under the guidance of Nozi Tomizawa.

The three-year-old daughter of Red Dazzler, who has now finished in the first three places in six of her twelve starts – this was her second win, landed in the leading line at the break before settling into a close-up third placing, sitting just over a length back as she tracked and then stalked the two leaders down the back stretch and through the sweep to the turn.

It was pretty clinical from there as Tomizawa angled Montana Lady ($5.50) out two wide on the home turn after which she simply proved too strong in the run home, passing the two early frontrunners … the $3 favourite Thawra and Yourallthat ($6.50) … in confident fashion while also having more than enough in hand to ward off the late challenge of Irish Maudie ($4, who ran on well enough to claim second place.
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There was plenty of similarities between Montana Lady’s win and the win of Farwest who completed the second leg of the Sears stable double on the night … winning on debut in … when taking out a QTIS Two-Year-Old Maiden Plate over 1000m.

Farwest was a longer price ($9) and jumped from a wider draw (barrier ten) than Montana Lady, but Nozi Tomizawa followed pretty much the same pattern he had on Montana lady, pushing the chestnut son of Heroic Valour out early to enable him to settle in third place, just a little over a length off the leader.

Farwest moved closer to the lead approaching the home turn with Tomizawa again tracking two wide, but, on straightening, he was forced wider out on the track when Miss Cantik ($9) hung out slightly at that stage.

Farwest was full of running though and he took that slight moment of inconvenience in his stride and stayed focused as he set about laying down a challenge to the frontrunning, $26 chance Rafale Jolie.

With 200m left to run the result came down to the battle between these two runners. One hundred metres later, that contest had been decided as Farwest surged clear to claim his first career success at the first time of asking.

Taking into account the wide draw … and the early work he had to do from there … coupled with the way he handled being slightly inconvenienced on the home turn and the fact that he had to fight to earn the victory when Rafale Jolie tested him in the run to the line, Farwest did all that was asked of him which translated into an impressive debut performance.