GOLD COAST HOLDS NO FEARS FOR THE SEARS CAMP

By Graham Potter | Friday, January 13, 2023

The King Of The Mountain will be looking for a sea-change at the Gold Coast on Saturday ... but don’t expect any change in his desire to hang onto his crown.

The Tony and Maddysen Sears trained Yellow Brick demolished the field in the $750 000 King Of The Mountain contest at Toowoomba on New Year’s eve, in the process taking out the state’s richest provincial race.

Now even more riches and rewards beckon as Yellow Brick gets ready to step out in the $2 million Magic Millions Three-Year-Old Guineas, a race in which he currently holds favouritism.

A winner of five of his six starts, the son of The Mission clearly faces his biggest test yet, a fact acknowledged by co-trainer Tony Sears, who nevertheless remains confident of a positive outcome.

“I think Yellow Brick is a better horse than many people think,” said Sears.

“He pulled up terrific after The King Of The Mountain win. I’d say he’s actually improved since then.

“He had a gallop on Tuesday and galloped really, really well. He galloped with a very nice horse and he went to the line very strongly.

“Maddy and I are very confident going into the race. We think we have got the right horse. He’s drawn well. He will be ridden well ... so he should have every chance. There won’t be any excuses for him.

“In the King Of The Mountain we had a wide draw to contend with. This time the draw really worked out well for us.

“The owner who is in Yellow Brick with us ... his car number plate has got four fives on it, and he said it would be lovely if we could get barrier five because that is his lucky number ... and then we drew barrier five. We couldn’t have been happier with that.”

The only blemish of Yellow Brick’s record came in the only start that the gelding has contested to date at the Gold Coast.

Is that a cause for concern with regard to Yellow Brick’s chances on Saturday, or can that result be explained away?

“We know he is not good on wet ground,” explained Sears. “He actually won his first start by a small margin on heavy ground ... but he didn’t handle it.

“Then, on the Gold Coast that day ... it poured down with rain and he didn’t handle it one bit, so I think you can draw a line through that one ... but, I definitely don’t want a wet track,” concluded Sears.

Ben Thompson, who has ridden Yellow Brick to three of his five victories, including The King Of The Mountain win, will be in the saddle once again.

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