STEADY READY, TOO STRONG, TOO FAST IN THE LIGHTNING AS HE BOUNCES BACK TO HIS BEST

By Graham Potter | Saturday, June 8, 2024

What a day out it was for the Tony and Maddysen Sears training partnership at the Queensland Oaks meeting at Eagle Farm on June 8 ... with the stable securing two Listed race wins in a thrilling race-to-race double in the Lightning Stakes and the Spear Chief Handicap with their stable stars Steady Ready and Yellow Brick.

Steady Ready, who was second-up in the Lightning Stakes, was reunited with jockey Angela Jones for the first time since their win back in October 2023, and the significant relationship they had formed in the past (this horse/rider combination had previously earned two wins and three places in five starts) ... immediately flourished again, with Jones arguably bringing out the best in the four-year-old son of Better than Ready.

Steady Ready’s first-up run had been in the Bat Out Of Hell on a Heavy 10 racing surface at the Sunshine Coast where he hit the front early in the straight, after using plenty of petrol early, only to shift ground and move outwards just inside the 200m mark.

That costly deviation was corrected, but Steady Ready was understandably feeling the pinch due to tackling a heavy track in his first start in five-and-a-half months.
He was beaten but still stayed on strongly enough to claim a creditable fourth place.

In the Lightning Stakes there would be no such speed wobble.

Back over the track and distance of his last career win, with Jones back in the saddle, Steady Ready (easy to back at $6) jumped well ... pushed forward to settle in third, then second less than a off the leader, Rubiquitous ($21), at a good speed which stretched the field out behind that ... before Jones slipped Steady ready into a narrow lead at the top of the straight.

Rubiquitous wasn’t finished yet and he fought back along the inside, and Steady Ready was also under siege from a wall of runners snapping at his heels, but this time there was to be no give in the Sears trained runner as Jones urged Steady Ready to the line in a thoroughly committed fashion which saw him hold all challenges at bay in a spirited fashion to secure victory by a margin of a shade under two lengths.

This success added to Steady Ready’s already proud record which now reads four wins from fourteen starts, with eight minor placings and $605 400 banked in prize-money.

“Our intentions were to take a sit ... and, when he was in the position he was early I was worried about the Sunshine Coast happening again, but we’ve always had a very high opinion of this horse. He has come back totally different after he has been gelded ... and he proved that today. He is a very fast horse,” said co-trainer Maddy Sears post-race.

“This horse flies for Angela Jones and I was so excited to have her back on today.”

And Angela Jones was happy to be back aboard Steady Ready., although she admitted the race, "didn’t quite go to plan."

“I would have preferred to have a bit of cover in the run, but he jumped so well. He’s had a couple of weeks in-between runs and was feeling great.

“He just pinged out. With that horse outside us being a little bit of a pest, I couldn’t ask him to come back. He was just travelling like the winner the whole way.

“With 53kg on his back he could afford to do a little bit more in the run and kick away. I wasn’t that sure when he kicked though, because I wasn’t certain he would be able to sustain it, but at the 100m he wasn’t even coming close to stopping, so it was a good feeling that last 100.

“It was just great to see him do that. We know he promised to be a speedy horse up to this class from early on and it was great to see him tick that race off."

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