The carnival campaign of Red Wave didn’t get off to a perfect start but co-trainer Maddysen Sears is confident the horse is where he needs to be ahead of his quest for back-to-back Ipswich Cup wins.
The six-year-old was scheduled to resume in the middle of May but a bruised heel delayed his return by two weeks, forcing Sears to compress his program.
As a result, he will line up in Saturday’s Listed Ipswich Cup (2150m) at his third run from a spell and on a seven-day back-up from an encouraging midfield finish in the Wayne Wilson (1600m) at Eagle Farm last week.
“He has run the fastest last 200 metres of that race, which we were stoked about,” Sears said.
“It was a good lead-up run for him heading into the Cup this weekend.
“He is a very straightforward, easy horse to train. He’s had a day at the beach and I’ve just kept him ticking over.
“He didn’t have a hard run on Saturday and he galloped (Thursday) morning and went super.”
Red Wave carried 53kg to victory in last year’s Ipswich Cup but having also claimed the Toowoomba Cup (2000m) in between, he has 58.5kg on Saturday.
Sears feels that is also due to this year’s field lacking the depth of 12 months ago, while she is hoping his impost will be offset by a low draw in barrier three.
“He’s got more weight but he has drawn well and I don’t think it’s as hard a race as what it was last year,” she said.
“Both our horses in the race will be very hard to beat.”
Sears will also saddle up Poetic Drama, who extends to a middle distance for the first time but has been performing well at her past two starts in stakes grade, including a luckless sixth in the Magic Millions National Classic (1600m) two weeks ago.
“Last start she got stuck behind a wall of horses. Albeit, it was a hard race, I think if she had have got out when Ang (jockey Angela Jones) wanted her to she would have been in the finish. She was totally untested,” Sears said.
“If she runs the journey, which we think she will, she will be really hard to beat too. She is going very well.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if they both ran top three.”
The Sears stable had a near-miss last weekend when Yellow Brick beat all but War Machine in the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap (1400m).
Sears confirmed Yellow Brick would be given a freshen up and aimed at the Epsom Handicap (1600m) during the Sydney spring carnival.
With Red Wave chasing back-to-back Ipswich Cup wins and Poetic Drama stepping up in trip, punters can explore form and markets at the best betting sites Australia for value odds this weekend.
