Nightline puts Oaks rivals on notice

Tony and Maddysen Sears are counting down the days to the Gr.1 Queensland Oaks (2200m) after a highly impressive audition at the Gold Coast on Saturday by their New Zealand-bred filly Nightline (NZ) (Redwood).

The father-daughter training partnership teamed up with Paul Moroney Bloodstock and Catheryne Bruggeman to buy Nightline for $75,000 from Book 2 of the 2024 NZB National Yearling Sale at Karaka, where she was offered by Westbury Stud.

The Redwood filly has already earned A$294,100 in stakes from an eight-race career that has netted four wins and two placings, including a first black-type success in Saturday’s A$160,000 Listed Moet & Chandon Gold Coast Bracelet (1800m).

The Sears stable began plotting an Oaks campaign after Nightline won three of her five starts between November and January, culminating in the A$160,000 Eagle Way (2100m) at Eagle Farm on January 3.

Nightline resumed with a promising third in the Listed Princess Stakes (1600m) on April 25, then relished the extra distance and drier track conditions second-up in Saturday’s Bracelet.

Ridden by the formerly Kiwi-based jockey Mark Du Plessis, Nightline settled a long way back in ninth as the well-supported pair Spicy Lu (Tagaloa) and Single Red (NZ) (Vanburgh) showed the way out in front.

Gr.1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m) placegetter Single Red kicked away from Spicy Lu at the top of the straight in what looked like a winning move, but then Du Plessis guided Nightline through a narrow gap and let her rip down the outside.

Nightline charged up alongside Single Red and finished over the top of her in the last 50m to win by just under a length.

“There was a bit of a wall of horses and the filly had to push her way out,” Maddysen Sears said. “She is very, very good, and I just knew she had the turn of foot to win. Mark rode her perfectly, he didn’t panic.

“Dad and I know how good she is. The turn of foot wasn’t there in Brisbane the other day in the wet, and I think that’s what cost her.”

Sears’ father and training partner Tony is increasingly confident that Nightline might be the filly to beat in the Queensland Oaks at Eagle Farm on June 6, for which the TAB now rates her a $6 second favourite behind Panova (Trapeze Artist) ($5).

“I’ve got a good friend here in Lee Freedman, I think he’s a genius trainer, and he’s been telling me for weeks that she’ll win the Oaks,” Tony Sears said. “So when someone like Lee tells you that, you’re full of confidence. This horse is very, very special. You know she’s got gears that probably a lot of horses haven’t got.”

Nightline was bred by Westbury Stud owner Gerry Harvey and is by Redwood out of the El Roca mare Decimal (NZ), who is a half-sister to the dual Group Two winner and Group One-placed Fontelina (NZ) (Pins). Nightline is Decimal’s first foal.

Nightline is the 18^th individual stakes winner for Redwood, who stands at Westbury for a $10,000 service fee. Victory in the Queensland Oaks would make Nightline his fourth Group One winner, following on from Sharp ‘N’ Smart, Antino and Rock On Wood.