FLOP TURN RIVER PREVAILS AT IPSWICH

By Graham Potter | Thursday, January 18, 2024

Flop Turn River has followed a familiar pattern for horses coming into the Tony and Maddysen Sears stable from another trainer ... that being a steady buildup in fitness, and often in distance, on the road to landing a win.

The Sears team are in fact the third stable to take on the Better Than Ready gelding who came to them with two previous wins under his belt ... both in Mackay, both over 1100m for trainer Ricky Vale ... from his then career total of ten starts.

Flop Turn River’s four starts for the Sears camp has produced a fifth placing (first up after close to a six-month break), a third placing, a second place ... and then this win.

While that clearly was the positive flow of race fitness and a preferred distance kicking in, it was also the astute handling of Flop Turn River by the Sears stable that contributed to his level of progress as, in those four runs, they ran him over 1200m, 1300m, 1625m until ... bang ... the win over 1700m in a BM58 Handicap at Ipswich on January 18.

But ... the win, in a BM 58 over 1700m at Ipswich on January 18, was hard earned.

Ryan Maloney made sure Flop Turn River (the $3.80 favourite) would get the run of the race from a number two barrier draw, with Flop Turn River landing in the leading line before being eased back slightly to third, then fourth place, just two lengths off the leader early, saving ground all of the way.

Back up to third, but the same margin off the lead, Maloney was content to bide his time down the back stretch.

Flop Turn River was shuffled further back in terms of placing when the field started to bunch and runs started to come halfway through the sweep to the home turn, but the Sears trained runner was never more than three lengths off the action ... and you could make that two lengths when the field straightened for home.

Flop Turn River was now tested on two fronts. He had to produce a sustained run to forge a winning result and, at the same time, he had to be brave coming through the 200m mark as Maloney angled his mount through a reasonably tight gap between runners.

Flop Turn River didn’t blink as he took up the challenge to hit the front inside the last 150m.

The second favourite Toba ($5) wasn’t quite done yet though, producing a strong finishing effort from behind to threaten Flop Turn River late, but the four-year-old son of Better Than Ready’s effort remained sure and steady enough to the line to see of Toba’s late flourish and claim the win by a diminishing 0.20 length margin.

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