Gold Coast to become home for 'Team Sears'

By Glenn Davis

Toowoomba co-trainer Tony Sears is on the move and will base his stable headquarters at the Gold Coast after the Group 1 Queensland Derby at Eagle Farm later this month.

Tony, who trains in partnership with his daughter Maddysen, has been part of Toowoomba’s training ranks since he moved from New Zealand in 1981.

'Team Sears' opened a Gold Coast satellite stable six months ago, which Maddysen has headed up, but they’ll soon be reunited at the one track after the family sold their 30-acre property at Charlton, just outside Toowoomba.

“We’ve got 20 horses in work at the Gold Coast and 40 at Toowoomba but it’s been in the pipeline for a while to set up permanently at the Gold Coast,” Tony said.

“We’ll still keep a small team going at Toowoomba and some of my staff will stay on here and look after it.

“We’ve taken over another 20 stables at the Gold Coast and I’m in the process of finding a property like we’ve got here that’s close to the track.”

Tony will be at Doomben on Saturday saddling up his Queensland Derby hope Beau Dazzler in the Group 3 Rough Habit Plate.

Beau Dazzler started his path to the Queensland Derby with an eye-catching third to Depth Of Character in the Group 2 Queensland Guineas at Eagle Farm on May 3. 

"He ran a great race in the Guineas which was a nice steppingstone to the Derby,” Tony said.

“He’ll have no problem running 2400 metres in the Derby but to get there he needs to run well in the Rough Habit.”

Tony is reluctant to plan too far ahead with Beau Dazzler and will decide after the winter carnival whether the gelding heads to Melbourne for the spring.

“The plan all along with him has been the Queensland Derby but we’ll assess him after he runs in the Derby about going south for the spring,” Tony said.

“He runs on all surfaces, whether it’s wet or dry, and he probably excels on heavy tracks because he’s got such a good turn of foot.”

The stable is yet to win at the highest level, but Tony believes Beau Dazzler is his best hope yet.

Beau Dazzler is a $12 chance in latest markets for the Rough Habit and is a $15 hope for the Queensland Derby.