YE:LLOW BRICK STARS IN THE ARCHER

By Graham Potter | Tuesday, May 5, 2026

The Tony and Maddysen Sears trained Yellow Brick landed his second $1million plus race in the last four months when he triumphed in the $1 million The Archer at Rockhampton at a meeting that was rescheduled for Tuesday after Sunday’s postponement.

The postponement was always going to have a happy ending for somebody and Yellow Brick, the Sears training partnership, who still had the son of The Mission prepared to the minute, and jockey Tommy Berry, who had to make the trip to Rockhampton twice to help get the job done … all carried out their roles in a flawless fashion to claim a mighty victory.

Yellow Brick came into The Archer first-up after a three-and-a-half break from race action since his run in the Magic Millions Cup at the Gold Coast on January 17, which he tackled on the seven day back-up after winning the $1.5 million Magic Millions Open at the same track on January 10,

Two official trials in April had brought Yellow Brick along nicely enough … he won both … for his co-trainers to give the six-year-old a big thumbs-up with Tony Sears summing up the stable’s pre-race sentiment by stating simply that Yellow Brick was ‘ready to go.’

And ‘ready to go’ he was.

Yellow Brick, who started as the $3.40 favourite, jumped well which allowed Berry to pick his spot and he duly chose to settle Yellow Brick in midfield in the early part, in fifth place, some four lengths off the frontrunning Cherry Rose, a $31 local trained chance who went out to try and make every post a winning one.

Approaching the home turn, before the long 600m run-in, Berry made it quite clear what path he would be tracking as he brought Yellow Brick out three to four wide on straightening, importantly ensuring the Sears trained runner would an uninterrupted path in clear air all the way to the line.

But that $31 outsider Cheery Rose, with Dylan Turner urging her along, was still about to show plenty of cheek.
The Jamie McConachy trained mare still led by two lengths with 400m left to run … with the balance of the field becoming fairly bunched up behind that.

At the 200m Cherry Rose held the same advantage, but the outlook of the race was changing now as the chasing pack began to gain serious momentum, and when the game Cherry Rose began to feel the effects of her early effort and started to weaken, it was Berry and Yellow Brick leading the highly charged chase from behind … a chase that at one stage saw six horses, then five horses, then four horses racing hard up alongside each other, in tight galloping room, as they all strived to reel in the long-time frontrunner.

And still Cheery Rose was in front entering the final 100m of the race, but she was about to be swamped as Yellow Brick swept into the lead with 50m to run with such authority that he left all of his rivals only racing to sort out the minor placings.

The Shaun Dwyer trained Anemacore ($19), ridden by Michael Rodd, finished second after being at the tail of the field when entering the home straight. From racing on the rail, Anemacore did have to switch around the entire field, to a position all of seven wide, before he could unleash his finishing effort.

He lost a little bit of ground by having to switch out so much, and he did well to get within 1.10 lengths of the winner at the line. Given those circumstances he was best of the rest on the day although the highly competitive nature of that final chase to the line can be gauged by the fact that the first six horses across the lien finished within two lengths of Yellow Brick.

The second placed Anemacore was 1.10 lengths back … the third placed Boomtown Boss ($10) was beaten by 1.34 lengths … Tavs ($21) by 1.41 lengths … The Inflictor (the $3.60 second favourite) by 1.51 lengths … and Cheery Rose by 1.98 lengths.

It was a good tough race with a worthy winner.

“They just wanted me to make sure he got room … and I didn’t want anything coming around me before the corner, so I just popped him wide,” said Berry post-race, explaining that tactical move on the home turn.

“He’s a big horse and takes a bit of winding up. It was a good effort today because he was first-up and he was a little bit keen in the run being on the fresh side … and he started to feel the pinch a little bit late … but it was a great effort by the team to get him ready … to get him ready twice too … and it was worth it coming back for the second time.

‘He’s definitely got a good carnival ahead,” continued Berry. “They’ve got some nice races mapped out for him.

“Thanks to James McDonald.” (McDonald rode Yellow Brick in the Gold Coast win). “He’s the one who got me up here. I’ll try and keep it (the ride on Yellow Brick) … and he can ride something else. That would be nice.”

And last, but not least, no review of Yellow Brick’s success story would be compete without a special mention to the absolute and never wavering belief that Tony and Maddysen Sears have had in Yellow Brick's ability throughout his career … a belief which, combined with their horse management skills, has allowed Yellow Brick to be his best and achieve all that he has done.

Its not all about money, but, if you want to quantify Yellow Brick’s success in financial terms … the $20 000 purchase has now banked just shy of $4 million in prize-money, and he is still only six-years-old.

It’s quite a story!
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"IT'S A PRETTY TOUGH RACE, BUT WE ARE READY TO GO" Tony Sears - co-trainer of Yellow Brick

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