IT'S ALL 'GOOD TO GO' FOR THE RACE FAVOURITE, YELLOW BRICK, IN $2 MILLION MAGIC MILLIONS GUINEAS

By Graham Potter | Tuesday, January 17, 2023

The postponement of the last eight races at the Magic Millions meeting at the Gold Coast on Saturday was the fairest outcome for the majority of runners engaged in the last eight races, which will now take place on Thursday.

Saturday’s meeting officially came to an end with the steward’s announcing, as per the official steward’s report, that, ‘Following the running of race 2, a delegation of riders again expressed concerns with the consistency of the racing surface resulting in their mounts losing traction at various stages of the event.

‘In accordance with QRIC and Racing Queensland abandonment policy, a rider ballot was conducted which resulted in the riding group withdrawing their services. The decision in consultation with stewards, Racing Queensland and the Gold Coast Turf Club the meeting could not continue due to safety concerns with the deteriorating track surface and the remainder of the meeting was postponed at 1:15pm.’

Nobody can justifiably dispute that decision. Even if racing had continued and dodged any safety related incidents (why would anybody take that chance in the circumstances), the races would have been an absolute lottery, hardly a reasonable or acceptable scenario when millions and millions of dollars are at stake.

Maddysen Sears, co-trainer with her father Tony Sears of the $2 million Magic Millions Guineas favourite Yellow Brick, was one of many big race connections who ultimately expressed relief that the race was waved away for another day.

“At the start of the meeting, I was still sitting in my hotel room watching the rain unfold. I had dad on speed-dial ... and I was saying, I don’t think we can race,” said Sears.

“He said, ‘it probably won’t be a bad thing.” (The only time Yellow Brick has been beaten in six starts was at the Gold Coast on a heavy track).

“It was annoying. We definitely didn’t want rain ... and what did we get ... but it kind of worked out in our favour that the races did get called off. So, I agree with dad. It wasn’t a bad thing.

“I watched the first race ... and then, when jockeys are already in two minds that early, you know you’ve got no hope of improvement with the conditions being on-going. The jockeys weren’t going to suddenly, miraculously change their minds.

“From what I could see and hear, I think the steward’s handled it fantastically. When the riders didn’t make an outright call initially, the steward’s had a silent ballot for the jockeys to give their vote ... and they could then act on that.

“Yes, scratching is always an option in the back of your mind ... but we were never going to go that route because, in the first instance, we were convinced after race two that there was no hope of our race going ahead.

“Even If we had to race, we would have taken our chances knowing that we were going into the race with an incredibly fit, frontrunning horse, up with the speed, which might have helped offset any of his dislike for the heavy track ... but, we really didn’t want to find out how that would work out and, thankfully, we didn’t have to.

So how has Yellow Brick been doing since Saturday?

“Yellow Brick has taken everything in his stride, answered Sears.

“Mom (Leigh) brought Yellow Brick down (from Toowoomba) for the race on Saturday.

“As she arrived at the track, we basically knew that they were calling the races off ... but she still got him off. She gave him a hose and let him have a walk around ... just to break up the journey. Then she took him home.

“He is a very relaxed horse. When he arrived at the races, he had the tiniest bit of sweat on his neck, which you could expect because, even though it was raining, it was still very muggy.

“He is not a horse that gets knocked around with travel.

“Then, on Sunday, because Dad and I were still down at the coast, mom went in and swam him morning and afternoon ... and he then worked as normal yesterday (Monday) and he had a gallop this morning.

“I actually think he worked better this morning than he did on the Thursday going into the race ... so, I really think the way everything has played out has been a blessing in disguise for us, as it probably has been for others.”

At the time of writing the Gold Coast track is still rated a ‘Heavy 9’ with expected improvement to come.

“For us, a ‘soft’ track would be alright, just so long as we are out of the ‘heavy’ range,” said Sears.

“When he got beaten on the heavy there previously ... in only his second start ... well, he is a very different horse with those six runs (with five wins) under his belt now compared to the horse he was back then.

“As I said, a ‘soft’ track would be fine ... a ‘good’ track will be ideal.

“If we can get through the rest of the day, tomorrow and Thursday morning without any more rain ... we’ll be alright.’

Yellow Brick continues to hold his place as favourite for the $2 million Magic Millions Guineas, currently quoted at $3.90.

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