WAR MACHINE LIVES UP TO THE HYPE TO WIN THE STRADBROKE. YELLOW BRICK EXCELS IN SECOND

By Graham Potter | Saturday, June 14, 2025

The hype was right … War Machine is the real deal, a fact that he drove home with each passing stride as he stormed to the line to secure the 2025 edition of the Stradbroke Handicap by a three-quarter-of-a-length margin from the very game Yellow Brock, who tested the Ben, Will and JD Hayes trained runner all the way to the line.

War Machine had dominated the betting, eventually jumping at a starting price of $3.40 with only two other runners … Golden Mile ($7.50) and Transatlantic ($9) … quoted at odds of less than $10, and he proved that betting confidence to be justified with a perfectly measured run under a superb ride by Tim Clark.

Jumping from a number twelve barrier draw, Clark went forward on War Machine, was caught four wide and was some five lengths off the speed in seventh spot the first half of the race, but Clark kept him racing at a comfortable gallop throughout so that he well poised to strike when he cornered, now five wide with clear air in front of him, as the field turned for home.

During this time, Yellow Brick, who would come out of the pack to challenge War Machine over the concluding stages, raced well back in the second half of the field, just under nine lengths off the lead.

By the time Clark asked War Machine to lengthen his stride early in the home straight, Yellow Brick, who was neglected in the betting at $41, was racing on a similar line to War Machine, now three-and-a-half lengths behind the Team Hayes trained runner.

When War Machine responded to Clark’s urging on cue, accelerating with meaning to forge forward in telling style, the gap to Yellow Brick went out to four lengths as War Machine settled into a sustained finishing effort which carried him into the lead with 250m left to run … but the race still had to be won.

At the same time that War Machine was about to surge to the head of affairs, Private Eye ($11) was switching around the heels of the long-time leader Front Page ($26) and was building momentum of his own.

For a brief moment coming through the 200m mark, it looked like Private Eye might go with War Machine, but the latter was now in full flight, and he had the measure of Private Eye with 120m left to run.

All the while, Yellow Brick and Andrew Mallyon had been running on in determined, resolute fashion.

With 100m to go Yellow Brick trailed War Machine by 2.50 lengths. That margin was down to just over two lengths at the 100m mark … to just over one length at the 50m mark … with War Machine’s winning margin back to the second placed Yellow Brick being further reduced to 0.75 lengths at the line.

War Machine and Yellow Brick were both full value for their first and second place finish respectively with the competitive nature of the race being highlighted by the fact that the next six runners to finish behind them were only separate by two lengths.

While those runners, with the exception of the third placed Private Eye, never seriously threatened the result, they played a part in pushing War Machjne and Yellow Brick to give of their best.

War Machine, who won both of his starts during the Stradbroke Season … the Group 3 BRC Cup and the Stradbroke … now has a career record of six wins and four minor placings from thirteen starts and has banked $2 480 010 in pre-money.

Yellow Brick improved his record to eight wins and nine minor placings from twenty-two starts with $2 484 350 banked in prize-money.

Private Eye, who deserves huge credit for claiming third place as he was racing first-up after a six-month break from racing, picked up another $270 000 to push his earnings to a remarkable $12 217 185 coming via twelve wins and nine placings from forty-three starts.

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