"Team Sears" still have faith in Steady Ready

By Glenn Davis                      

Co-trainer Tony Sears still has the same faith in Steady Ready as he did a year ago and is hopeful the colt can overcome a horror barrier and give him his first QTIS Three-Year-Old Jewel at Doomben on Saturday.

Tony, who co-trains with daughter Maddysen, declared Steady Ready the real deal after a near six length win on debut at Doomben in March last year.

The son of Better Than Ready then stepped up to stakes grade, finishing second to the Desleigh Forster-trained Exo Lady in the Listed Dalrello Stakes at Eagle Farm on April 30.

Fast forward to now and Steady Ready, who has drawn barrier 17, has started a further five times, taking his overall record to two wins and four placings from seven starts.

One of those placings was a game third to stable-mate Yellow Brick in the inaugural King Of the Mountain on his home track in Toowoomba in December.

In his juvenile season, Tony declared Steady Ready still had a lot of improvement to come and predicted he would furnish into a better three-year-old.

“He’s done a great job so far and we’ve very happy with him,” Tony said.

“I still think he’s got some improvement to come and eventually he should be a good three-year-old.”

"Team Sears" will be double handed in the QTIS Jewel with Even Now taking part after a first-up effort behind Burnish Girl over 1110 metres at Doomben last month.

Steady Ready – an Angela Jones mount - is coming off a last start third to Newcastle visitor Hard To Say in a 1000 metre Benchmark race at the Sunshine Coast on January 28.

“His last run was a little below par so we’ve freshened him up for this,” Tony said.

“He had a week out in the paddock and everything is good with him.”

Steady Ready was a $70,000 buy as a Magic Millions yearling and could head towards the Queensland Racing Carnival with a strong performance this winter. 

“Whether he goes on to the winter will depend how he goes on Saturday,” Tony said.

Tony has dismissed Steady Ready being a doubt over 1200 metres after placing once over the trip in two starts.

“He ran third in the King Of The Mountain over 1200 metres and that was a good effort,” Tony said.

“He’s against his own age this time, which is a bit easier.”

Although Steady Ready is an on pace runner, Tony has warned he doesn’t have to lead and has named the Tony Gollan-trained All That Pizzazz as one of the main dangers.

The Sears’ best performance in the Three-Year-Old QTIS Jewel was in last year’s feature when Even Now finished third to She’sgottheboom.