Steady and Ready to be King

By Danny Matthews  

A father-and-daughter training team have a strong chance of claiming a second King Of The Mountain.

Friday's edition of the King of the Mountain at Toowoomba could see the training combination Tony and Maddysen Sears claim their second win in their home base feature.

The prospect of a heavy track could play a significant role.

Worth $750,000 and run over 1200 metres, the King of the Mountain finds its new date in late March to coincide with the Toowoomba Show Day holiday.

The only thing bigger than that locally is the Sears' show in the feature with race favourite Steady Ready and outside chance Secret Plan.

The Sears team won the inaugural running on New Year's Eve in 2022 with Yellow Brick and Steady Ready finished third.

The improving Steady Ready is a narrow favourite at $3.80 with black-type performer Cifrado at $3.90 while Secret Plan is a longer shot at $23.

"Both are very talented in their own respects," Maddysen said.

"Steady Ready is a fast, speed horse and Secret Plan is proven over that 1200 to 1400 metres.

"I'm confident that one of them if not both, will get a great result for us. They are both genuine top four chances."

By Racing and Sports ratings, Yellow Brick notched a mark of 113 in 2022 while Rothfire went a point better with 114 on New Year's Day in 2024.

Significantly, Steady Ready's win last start at Eagle Farm over 1000 metres on March 15 saw the five-year-old gelding achieve 113 in a recipe boding well for success on Friday.

"We were saying before he won first-up last start, on his data and everything like that, this seems to be the best he has been," Maddysen said. 

"He shouldn't have won last start, to be honest. He was four deep, got knocked at the start but he won with so much authority.

"He was probably at 90% when he won in Brisbane as the King of the Mountain was his main goal and we wanted to see a big improvement from that, and that is what we're going to see."

Secret Plan debuts for the team in Queensland after a 31-start career with periods with other trainers in Western Australia, Victoria and in new South Wales.

"He's got great form on soft ground and he's won twice in the heavy," Maddysen said.

"I think the that is what could get some horse where the 1200 metre is a stretch for them. A wet track in Toowoomba is going to get a lot of horses unstuck.

"That will open it up for horses like Secret Plan and Cifrado who get a bit further in distance and like the wet."