A SILVER EAGLE ANTI-CLIMAX FOR YELLOW BRICK, BUT HE'LL BE BACK TO FIGHT ANOTHER DAY

By Graham Potter | Saturday, October 14, 2023

It really was a run too bad to be true.

It’s racing. It happens … but, whatever the expectations were for Yellow Brick in the $1 million Silver Eagle (he did start third favourite at $4.80 after topping the boards for much of the pre-race betting) the level of disappointment for connections was understandably high given the fact that his race was already run when others were only getting started.

That sinking feeling would have come into play on a serious level approaching the 300m mark in the home straight when it became apparent that Yellow Brick, who led the field up, was about to be swallowed up by a host of runners.

Disappointment for connections would turn to dismay. Dismay would, in turn, give way to concern that something was wrong. What was being witnessed was just so out of character for the Sears trained runner.

The preparation for the Silver Eagle had been flawless. Yellow Brick took the trip to Sydney in his stride and settled into his new surroundings as if he was at home but, once the race was underway, it didn’t take long for things to start to unravel.

In Yellow Brick’s previous race … The Weetwood … a ‘mistake,’ if you can call it that … the fact that he led … arguably helped contribute to Yellow Brick being run down in the very last stride. If nothing else, co-trainer Tony Sears was at pains to stress that would not happen again.

Talking to Racenet in the lead-up to the Silver Eagle, Sears said: "We were disappointed he led (in the Weetwood). There was never any discussion around him leading. I can guarantee you he won't be leading on Saturday.”

Yet, just 400m into Silver Eagle, there Yellow Brick was, not only leading, but being pushed out to lead by jockey Craig Williams who seemed intent on not letting the speed come around him in the early part. He just kept urging Yellow Brick forward past all of the other runners on the early speed as commentator Darren Flindell described the hectic race for the lead as “what a mad go for the front.”

Williams explained his motivation to do what he did to the steward’s post-race. From the steward’s report, ‘C. Williams reported that although instructed to obtain cover on the gelding, in the early stages he was racing in a three-wide position and rather than run the risk of remaining three wide and without cover, he allowed his mount to cross Ruthless Dame and initially race outside Kibou before wresting the lead from that runner near the 900m.’

Leading a big race for the bulk of the running is never an easy task, and you can double-down on that difficulty when is not a horse’s preferred pattern of racing … so, in essence, Yellow Brick was always going to be under some level of sufferance in those circumstances, even if all was well … but that did not appear to be the case when Yellow Brick suddenly started to run on empty.

Again, from Craig Willaims’ report back to stewards, Willaims said, ‘in the straight when giving ground he desisted from testing Yellow Brick as he was concerned there may be something amiss with the gelding. A post-race veterinary examination revealed the gelding to be coughing.’

In an ensuing follow-up, Racing NSW issued a release to the effect that co-trainer Maddysen Sears had reported to Racing NSW Stewards, ‘that an endoscopic examination of Yellow Brick, following its disappointing performance in the Silver Eagle at Royal Randwick on Saturday, revealed the presence of mucus in the trachea.

Sears also reported that, “the horse had received appropriate veterinary treatment due to this finding, but otherwise it had recovered well after the race and had done well in the stable and that it was intended to press on with Yellow Brick towards the Golden Eagle at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday, 4 November 2023, but, in the interim, further blood tests would be performed on the horse to monitor its condition.’

Sears also advised that, ‘it was currently intended for Yellow Brick to trial at Rosehill Gardens on Friday, 27 October 2023.’

Health-wise apart, it has to hoped that riding Yellow Brick ‘upside down’ in two successive starts has not taken away his zest for racing at this stage and that he can return to his normal racing pattern … a comfort zone in which he is a formidable contender … with the same relish for the task that he has displayed before.

In racing, there is no future in looking back. Pushing on is all that you can do … and for the Yellow Brick camp, for now, that means re-setting the sites anew, making whatever adjustments are necessary after the Silver Eagle setback, and bringing that Golden Eagle target back into sharp focus.

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