FOLLOWING THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD - PART 2

By Graham Potter | Wednesday, October 18, 2023

The second in a series of articles on HRO on a road-trip in search of a multi-million-dollar pay-day!
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REALTED ARTICLE:

FOLLOWING THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD – PART 1
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Whatever the factors were that contributed to Yellow Brick’s disappointing performance in the Silver Eagle, the most important point of all, overriding everything else, was that once everything had settled later, co -trainer Maddy Sears was able to confirm that all was well with Yellow Brick and that he would continue on with his campaign towards the Golden Eagle.

Not that there wasn’t a real moment of concern when Yellow Brick started to come under pressure and aborted his challenge early in the home straight when ridden upside-down at Randwick.

“We did have high concern at that time, worried that something very wrong with him and that the horse himself was not ok.” said Sears.

“My heart was in my throat waiting and watching him come back, just hoping that he would come back safely. I was so, so worried … and my phone was just blowing up with people trying to ring me and text me to ask if he was ok.

“The vet scoped him about an hour after the Silver Eagle and there was a bit of mucus in his trachea and he was quite distressed after the run. Obviously, he had a gut-buster. Those early sectionals were the fastest the horse had ever run in his entire career. He never got a breather at all and just went so hard.

“He was rescoped a couple of days later and everything looks great. The horse himself looks amazing. He is really starting to dapple up and he hasn’t left a grain since his run, so he is very well within himself.

“His attitude is well and truly there. He is bouncing around. He has always had a couple of quirky little habits and they are there for sure, so all the signs are good.

“We are lucky that the run didn’t bust him around as much as we thought it might at the time.

“We actually had the stewards come and see us before the run to ask about our riding tactics … and we said under no circumstances will the horse lead. We could see where Craig (Williams) made the decision to change that plan which we don’t fully understand, but it is done now and we are not going to dwell on it. The Silver Eagle run and the immediate aftermath with the mucus and all of that … it’s all very much past tense now.

“Everybody has their opinion on how the run panned out and, I have to say, we have had a lot of positive feedback about Yellow Brick and support for him moving forward, even from people we are don’t know in the industry … or even acquaintances. The support and all of the enquiries checking asking how the horse is has been unbelievable. It’s been really amazing actually.

“At this stage the ‘setback’ hasn’t really hindered his preparation. He will trial on Friday … and if he trials well and everything is good, he will go on to the Golden Eagle.”

The $10 million Golden Eagle takes place at Rosehill Gardens on November 4, given Yellow Brick a neat three weeks between runs.

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