Wild and Ready, Stewart team up again in Doomben feature

Wild and Ready and jockey Ron Stewart have been an unbeatable team in minor races in Australia in the last few months.

Wild and Ready won a maiden race in her fourth start at Ipswich Racecourse on Christmas Eve, the first time Stewart was aboard. Wild And Ready finished sixth in a handicap at Doomben on Jan. 7 when ridden by Jim Byrne, but rebounded to win a handicap at 6 1/2 furlongs at Eagle Farm on Jan. 21 with Stewart back aboard.

The partnership continues at Doomben Racecourse in Brisbane on Thursday when Wild and Ready starts in a handicap at about a mile, the longest distance of her career.

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Wild and Ready, trained by Kelly Schweida, is a stalker who closed from fifth in the final quarter-mile to win at Eagle Farm. Schweida won with nine of 50 runners from Dec. 26 through Saturday.

Interestingly, Wild and Ready is out of Wild Storm, a Chilean-bred mare who was second or third in three sprint stakes on turf at Santa Anita and Hollywood Park in 2006 and 2007 when trained by Bobby Frankel and John Sadler.

Wild and Ready, a winner of 2 of 6 starts, is part of a field of eight in the second of eight races at Doomben. First post time is 10:55 p.m. Eastern, or 7:55 p.m. Pacific, on Wednesday. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.

Wild and Ready will be a slight choice over All But Gone and Steinbrenner.

All But Gone, a 9-year-old gelding, has won nine of 64 starts. Trained by Damien Lane, All But Gone won a handicap at 7 1/2 furlongs at Port Macquarie on Nov. 24, but was third in a one-mile handicap at Goulborn Racecourse on Dec. 18 and third in a handicap at 7 1/2 furlongs at Canterbury Park on Jan. 18. Similar to Wild and Ready, All But Gone races as a stalker.

Steinbrenner has won only three of 24 starts, a record that would not please his namesake, the late New York Yankees owner. A 5-year-old New Zealand-bred gelding, Steinbrenner gave a feisty performance to win a one-mile handicap from the front at Sunshine Coast on Jan. 10, and closed from last in a field of eight to just miss winning a handicap at about 1 1/16 miles at Ipswich on Jan. 23, losing by three-quarters of a length.

The distance of the Doomben race should suit Steinbrenner.