Yellow Brick and Sydney … it’s hardly been a love affair.
Last season Yellow Brick’s campaign aimed at the $10 million Golden Eagle came to a premature end when co-trainers Tony and Maddysen Sears called time on the Sydney schedule after the well performed son of The Mission came back after a trial at Rosehill blowing far more than expected before exhibiting a slow recovery rate.
That disappointment came on the back of a gut-buster run in the Silver Eagle where Yellow Brick was push forward contrary to the stable gameplan and was already left with little to offer halfway up the home straight.
The call to pull the plug and to ignore the temptation of a $10 million race just around the corner was made in the best interests of Yellow Brick’s safety and well-being as per the Sears stable philosophy.
Fast forward ten months and the Sears team and Yellow Brick were once again ready to test the waters in Sydney, lining up last Saturday’s Toy Show Quality as the first target for Yellow Brick on the projected way through to the Bill Richie and then on to the Group 1 Epsom … but the five-year-old did not get to face the starter.
“He travelled to Sydney on Thursday night. Arrived in Sydney on Friday morning, about six-o’clock,” said Tony Sears, “and about lunch time Maddysen went to check him and took his temperature.
“It was up slightly, so we just had to keep an eye on him. When she went back, she fed him and did everything with him as usual. She had to pick somebody up at the airport and then, when she went back again to rug him, his temperature had gone up again.
“They thought he maybe had a small virus or maybe a bit of travelling sickness, but, either way, we couldn’t run him after that.
“Then, On Saturday he was fine.”
“Sydney hasn’t been good for him so far. I was thinking maybe he doesn’t want to be there, but we’ve got plenty of time to rectify matters.”
“He was perfect on Saturday, “confirmed Maddy Sears. “If I hadn’t had taken his temperature (on Friday) he would have raced. That was the only thing. His temperature spiked, but the next day his temperature was back down fine.
“We’ve sent him to Mt White, which is Coolmore’s spelling and training place just outside Sydney, and he arrived last night, and he is out running around freshly in a paddock there this morning … quite literally running around.
“We couldn’t have run him after taking his temperature. His health is of foremost importance. There is always another race.
“It seems like this is just going to be a very minor setback. He is not really going to lose that much fitness or anything at all really.
“I’d say we are going to stick to the original plan,” continued Maddy Sears.
“We left a month between his first two planned runs, so whether he has a couple of trials and then goes basically first-up into the Bill Richie and then into the Epsom … or there might be an Open 1200m we might consider first … we’ve got plenty of time up out sleeve really.
“At least I got to have a good day at Randwick on Saturday … without the pressure.”
“It was a very relaxing day I can tell you.”