Yellow Brick, who won the $1.5 million Magic Millions QTIS Open over 1300m at the Gold Coast in January, will take aim at a second $1 million race win at Rockhampton on Sunday where he currently holds down the second favourite status for The Archer.
In the process Yellow Brick will try to maintain a perfect record in slot races, having won the inaugural running of the $750,000 The King Of The Mountain at his then home track at Toowoomba on New Year’s Eve 2022.
While The King Of The Mountain … the slot race version … only lasted for three editions, The Archer, which kicked off in 2022, the same year as the King Of The Mountain, will be contested for the fifth time on Sunday, under the proud banner of Queensland’s richest Provincial race.
The Archer continues to evolve, powering through some uncertain times to not only keep the race alive, but to do so in a manner which can attract runners of the calibre runners such as, amongst others, Yellow Brick and Rothfire (another King Of The Mountain slot race winner).
Co-trainer Tony Sears told anyone who would listen to him that Yellow Brick was perfectly primed for his run in last year’s Stradbroke Handicap and would be very competitive, and the impressive looking son of The Mission certainly lived up to Sears’ rating. While he had to settle for second best to War Machine on the day, Yellow Brick’s strong runner-up finish at odds of $41 told its own story.
Sears is bullish again about Yellow Brick’s chances on Sunday, believing the horse is perfectly primed for his assignment in The Archer, coming into the race on the back of two trial wins in April.
“Everything has been done with him,” said Sears earlier in the week. “He trialled perfect … his blood is good … so, it now it’s all about keeping him right.
“It’s a pretty tough race, but we are ready to go.”
It is a change of role for Yellow Brick, who has never dodged a fight against the big guns, having finished second in last year’s Stradbroke Handicap and having been happy to take hefty Group 1 challenges in Sydney when testing his mettle against horses such as Autumn Glow, Ceolwolf and Mr Brightsifde.
This time he will arrive at the track as one of the big guns.
Tommy Berry is the jockey. Box ticked. The barrier draw is number seven. All good. The distance is 1300m … the distance Yellow Brick won over at the Gold Coast … another box ticked. The horse has won over good and heavy going. No problem there and he has done everything asked of him in the lead-up to the race.
So, it’s all systems go for the Tony and Maddysen Sears trained runner, who … win, lose or draw … seems likely to make his presence felt yet again and add to his also impressive prize-money haul of $3,470,000.
