FOLLOWING THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD – PART 1

By Graham Potter | Wednesday, October 11, 2023

The first in a series of articles on HRO on a road-trip in search of a multi-million-dollar pay-day!

It is perhaps fitting that the Tony and Maddysen Sears trained gelding Yellow Brick is sired by The Mission. Certainly, that is exactly what the quality four-year-old is on ... with the Sears camp now having taken Yellow Brick’s campaign south from his home state of Queensland, ultimately aiming to compete against the best there is in the $10 million Golden Eagle at Rosehill Gardens in Sydney on November 4.

Yellow Brick last raced in his big home-town feature race at Toowoomba on September 23 in which he went down in heart-breaking fashion in the very last stride in the Weetwood in a result where the margin was so narrow it was hard to call with the naked eye.

That took Yellow Brick’s race record to six wins, four second places and one third place from only eleven starts for the lightly raced four-year-old, whose career has been so well managed by the Sears training partnership who have carefully chartered a course which has set him up to his best advantage in selected feature races.

Yellow Brick won five of his first six starts and has won up to Group 3 level when taking out the Gold Coast Guineas, adding that win to his King Of The Mountain feature race success.

To date, Yellow Brick has earned $1 399 600. His next run, on Saturday, is in the $1 million Silver Eagle which would be a big prize in itself, but, it is also Yellow Brick’s lead-in run to the $10 million Golden Eagle three weeks later. The first place prize-money in each of those events is $580 00 and, wait for it, $5 250 000 respectively.

That kind of monetary incentive brings tough opposition, but Yellow Brick has earned his right to tackle such an adventure and the Sears camp has embraced the challenge.

Shooting high, to be sure, but, then again, if you don’t take aim at the prize you are unlikely to hit the target.
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“He had a pretty cruisy week after the Weetwood, and then he left for Sydney on Sunday, October 1 at night ... and he arrived in Sydney in the early hours of Monday morning,” explained co-trainer Maddy Sears.

“We couldn’t have asked for him to settle in any better. It’s like he has been here a million times. He is so relaxed. He’s been eating everything. He’s bouncing and playing around.

“We’ve teed up with Gerald Ryan for some paired gallops on the grass. His gallop last Friday was fantastic, and he galloped with one of Gerald Ryans on the grass again on Tuesday.

“Touch wood ... it has been great. Everything is well on track.

“I see he is the early $2.80 favourite (for Saturday’s Silver Eagle contest) which make me nervous, but he doesn’t know he is favourite, so that’s fine.”
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Maddy Sears also addressed the fact that Yellow Brick has finished second in four of his last five starts, including that rousing second in the $2 million Magic Millions Guineas, and gave the stable’s perspective on those four runs in which Yellow Brick never finished more than 0.75 lengths behind the winner and was just touched off in two of those four results.

“I take those results with a grain of salt, knowing that he has always been very brave in defeat,” said Sears. “The horse has given his absolute all every time he has hit the races, and he hasn’t been beaten through any fault of his own, I believe.

“All have been tremendous runs. He has gone down by the narrowest of narrow margins and the two horses that beat him over the carnival ... in the Fred Best and the Gunsynd ... have gone on to do great things ... Hawaii Five Oh went on to finish second in the Premiere Stakes and is a runner in The Everest on Saturday ... and Rediener won the Group 2 Bill Richie and Group 1 Epsom at his two starts since beating Yellow Brick, so Yellow Brick wasn’t beaten by average horses.

“He certainly hasn’t lost any followers because, as you can see, performance-wise, there really is nothing to be disappointed about in that set of second place finishes ... except, of course, for that moment when the number went into the frame.

“Like in the Weetwood ... which was so close. Everybody though we had won. Jimmy (Orman, riding Yellow Brick) thought we had won. Ben (Thompson, riding the fast finishing, eventual winner All That Pizzazz) thought we had won. Then the number went up ... and we didn’t win ... but Yellow Brick did himself proud. He did carry 4kg more than the winner.”
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That’s well-and-truly in the past now as the Sears Team lines up Saturday’s assignment.

“In these big races it is probably better to draw a low number ... anything from seven down, but, if he does happen to draw a bit average, we have a lot of confidence in Craig Williams to guide him through that,” said Sears. “Having someone like him on it, he’ll give the horse the best chance, that’s for sure.”

That was Maddy Sears speaking before the barrier draw. Yellow Brick drew barrier five. The good vibes continue.

Williams will be the third jockey aboard Yellow Brick in as many runs after Ben Thompson and Jimmy Orman ... and no jockey has been confirmed beyond Saturday’s Silver Eagle.

That is the focus right now as the Silver Eagle beckons with, all being equal, another extraordinary race with a bit more glitter attached to it to follow.

It is exciting times for all of those involved in following the Yellow Brick Road.

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