You could mark him down as almost being the forgotten horse in this year’s Stradbroke Handicap, but co-trainer Tony Sears (he trains in partnership with his daughter Maddysen) is happy he has the eight-time winner Yellow Brick right where he wants him to be going into Saturday’s big race.
You would have been forgiven for thinking that the Sears might have some regrets about Yellow Brick only making the Stradbroke lineup for the first time as a five-year-old after being touted as a possible real contender earlier in his career, but Sears was having none of that.
“Absolutely no regrets,” was Sears’ immediate response when asked that question.
“On his work, and how he has been going this time in, he is every bit as good as he has ever been, if not better. We just need a good, dry track … which it looks like we are going to get now … so, hopefully, everything goes to plan in the race.
“Everything is going well with him,” said Sears.
“He raced first-up (in the Group 3 BRC Sprint) and he raced too fresh. He was outside the leader which was not to his liking. He doesn’t race much good like that, but he has come on a lot since then.
“We gave him another barrier trial at Doomben after that. The track was very wet. He jumped out and we basically just let him go around … just let him do his own thing without worrying about where he ran.
“He’s had a couple of good gallops on the course proper at the Gold Coast (where the Sears camp is now stabled, having relocated from their long-time base at Toowoomba).
“He worked very well on the course proper on Tuesday, so he has had quite a bit of work leading into the Stradbroke … some real nice pieces of work. He is as fit as we can get him. He is as good as we can get him for this Saturday and, yeah, we couldn’t be happier with him.
“It’s been a long time since he has carried 53kg.” (You can make that ‘never’ carried 53kg). “It’s a massive advantage when you are drawn well with a light weight. We feel like he is in there with a very good chance.”
Yellow Brick’s career has been in something of a reset stage over the last six months.
His early career form was tremendous. He won his only start as a two-year-old … finished third in his first-up run as a three-year-old and then proceeded to win five of his next six starts, including the Group 3 Gold Coast Guineas (which was run at the Sunshine Coast that year).
Ironically enough, his only beaten run in that sequence was arguably his best … and unluckiest … when he finished close-up second in the $2 million Magic Millions Three-Year-Old Guineas.
From there Yellow Brick finished second on three successive occasions … in the Group 3 Fred Best, the Group 3 Gunsynd and the Listed Weetwood.
At that stage Yellow Brick’s career record stood at six wins, four seconds and one third place from eleven starts, but a roadblock was about to slow Yellow Brick’s career momentum.
Taken down south for a proposed Silver Eagle / Golden Eagle campaign, Yellow Brick didn’t get further than the first of those races when a gut-busting run in the Silver Eagle … when ridden on the speed against the pre-race gameplan … brought him undone with the Sears camp having no hesitation in immediately pulling up stumps and sending Yellow Brick to the paddock.
Yellow Brick returned to race action seven months later on May 11, 2024.
In the last twelve months Yellow Brick has had nine starts for two wins (in the Listed Spear Chief and the Tattersall’s Members Cup), two second placings (in the Listed AJC Cup and again in the Listed Weetwood) … all in Queensland … and a third place in the Listed $2 million Five Diamonds at Rosehill (when finishing less than a length behind Pericles) and a fourth place in the $1 million Diamond Prelude at Randwick (behind Iknowastar) … all being highly creditable results.
Second-up on Saturday shouldn’t be a problem … Yellow Brick has won second-up on two previous occasions. That, and the expected favourable track conditions along with co-trainer Tony Sears’s tick of approval when giving his assessment of the horse … and with Andrew Mallyon, who has won on Yellow Brick at Eagle Farm before, taking the reins again … all translates to a positive package which suggests that the powerful, good-looking son of The Mission … under the radar or not … might well be on track to give the better fancied runners in the race a real fright.
If you’re looking to get involved in the Stradbroke Handicap or other feature races this winter, explore the top betting sites in Australia for the best odds, expert tips, and exclusive promotions.
