Yellow Brick: Bargain buy to millionaire

8 min read
The Tony and Maddysen Sears-trained Yellow Brick (The Mission) claimed his Group 3 success on Saturday in G3 Gold Coast Guineas at the Sunshine Coast, providing his young Aquis Farm-based sire The Mission a first stakes winner. TDN AusNZ caught up with Maddysen Sears and Paul Moroney to discuss this $20,000 bargain buy.

Cover image courtesy of Michael McInally

Toowoomba-based trainers Tony and Maddysen Sears star 3-year-old gelding Yellow Brick (The Mission) has only been to the races eight times but has walked away with six victories and already achieved the status of millionaire.

Not bad for a $20,000 yearling purchase from the draft of Waylon J Stud at the 2021 Magic Millions National Yearling Sale.

So, how did this gelding make his way into the stables of the Searses? Bloodstock agent Paul Moroney shared, “We were up at the Magic Millions National Yearling Sale, and Tony Sears had asked us to look out for a nice horse for him.

“My partner Catheryne (Bruggeman) had found Lot 1428 in her half of the catalogue, and we both looked at him and decided that he was the most athletic type. He was a touch backwards, but he had plenty of scope.

Yellow Brick as a yearling | Image courtesy of Magic Millions

“We thought this was the horse for Tony; I rang Tony straight away to tell him about the horse and he gave us the clear to bid on for the colt sight-unseen, which was a first for him.

“We all felt we got him under value at $20,000, the rest is history.”

Lot 1428, bred by the Aquis Sha Tin Syndicate, was a first crop bay son of the Aquis Farm-based The Mission, who won the G1 Champagne S.

The colt is the fifth foal from the High Chaparral (Ire) mare Magical Mist (NZ). She was a four-time winner and has produced the stakes winners Ballistic Boy (Smart Missile) and Splendiferous (Pride Of Dubai).

Lifestyle change

Maddysen Sears, now co-trainer alongside her father Tony, has been riding horses her entire life and had quite a substantial team of show horses and showjumpers. However, she hasn’t always been involved with the racehorse side.

“I have always been involved with horses, but with the racehorses, I only helped Dad and Mum when needed.

“Before becoming a co-trainer with Dad I worked at News Corp, sold advertising and was heavily involved in marketing. I had a few things going on in my personal life that changed my outlook and I could no longer handle working at a desk; I needed to get away.

“Before becoming a co-trainer with Dad I worked at News Corp, sold advertising and was heavily involved in marketing. I had a few things going on in my personal life that changed my outlook, and I could no longer handle working at a desk; I needed to get away.” - Maddysen Sears

“I told Mum and Dad I could come and work out at the barn until I worked out my next steps. I contemplated whether to go to university and whether to pursue my other dream of being a paramedic; if I wasn’t training, that has been one of my dream occupations.”

Like many involved in the racing industry, Sears became hooked to the process.

“Dad gave me a couple of mares to play around with and have a go at training. My first runner was a mare called Special Thing, and she won her first start at Gatton Racetrack in 2019.

Tony and Maddysen Sears after Yellow Brick's win in the G3 Gold Coast Guineas | Image courtesy of Michael McInally

“I was hooked from then, so shortly afterwards, we became a partnership and I haven’t looked back since.”

The ride of a lifetime

Yellow Brick is providing the Searses the ride of a lifetime with the family deeply involved in the ownership of the gelding.

Co-trainer Maddysen Sears commented on her first impression of him as a yearling, bought sight-unseen, “Paul Moroney and Catheryne Bruggeman do all our buying, they called us and said there’s a horse here you have to buy, we said ‘yeah okay, tell us a bit about him and how much we would be spending’, they said between $50,000 - $70,000, and that was doable.

“We got him for $20,000 due to a very small fragment in one of his back fetlocks.

“We got him (Yellow Brick) for $20,000 due to a very small fragment in one of his back fetlocks.” - Maddysen Sears

“So, we never actually saw Yellow Brick until he arrived at the farm after the sales; technically, we didn’t have anything to do with the purchase. It was all Paul and Catheryne.

“However, when Yellow Brick arrived at the farm, we were very, very impressed with the horse they bought us.”

Yellow Brick would also catch the eye of long-time client, “We had bought him for Mum and I, a family horse essentially, but our very good client Melvin (Foo) saw a picture of him and really wanted to go halves; Melvin is a part of the horse with our family now and he races in Melvin’s wife’s name (Suat Wee),” said Sears.

“He has been a wonderfully loyal client, so Yellow Brick is a special horse for him.”

The gelding would debut at Ipswich as a late 2-year-old, partnered by Jag Guthmann-Chester over 1100 metres.

“Yellow Brick always showed a lot of ability at home; however, we actually never thought he would run as a 2-year-old. Although, in his first preparation, he came to hand a bit quicker than we expected so he ran in the maiden at Ipswich on a heavy track.

“Jag returned to scale and said he was very green and uncomfortable on the conditions that day, but sheer talent got him over the line.

“We put him away and let time be his friend and that’s probably the best thing we could have done.”

Yellow Brick winning the inaugural $750,000 King Of The Mountain at Toowoomba | Image courtesy of Michael McInally

The gelding returned with a first-up third at the Gold Coast in September, then won his next four starts in a row, including the newly-created Toowoomba ‘King Of The Mountain’, worth $750,000. This race holds particular affection for the Sears family.

“The King Of The Mountain was extraordinary to win. It is a local race, so a lot of family came, including the family on my mum’s side. He won impressively and broke the track record, which was so special. That race is definitely on par with the Gold Coast Guineas.”

Yellow Brick was beaten in his next start, although far from disgraced in R. Listed Magic Millions 3YO Guineas, running third behind Fashion Legend (Deep Field).

Come Saturday at the Sunshine Coast, Yellow Brick was first-up in the G3 Gold Coast Guineas but endured a wide run for a comprehensive victory.

“That was our first Group winner as a partnership, and Mum always straps him, we own him, and it was just one of the best days ever.”

Maddysen and Leigh Sears with Yellow Brick | Image courtesy of Michael McInally

The win also struck Moroney who said, “We always felt this horse would stretch out to at least a metric mile and maybe even further. In our opinion, what Yellow Brick is doing now is just pure ability and a bonus, and the best lies ahead.

“Yellow Brick is in excellent patient hands and has been placed impeccably by Maddysen and Tony. Catheryne and I are proud that he has succeeded to this level as our first-ever purchase for Sears Racing.”

What makes a Yellow Brick so good? Sears feels it’s a combination of his athletic conformation and ‘cool as a cucumber approach to life.

Yellow Brick winning the G3 Gold Coast Guineas on Saturday | Image courtesy of Michael McInally

“Yellow Brick is exceptionally athletic. He is quite a big horse at 16.2 hands high and weighing about 525 kilos at his fittest.

“He’s a great horse to look at, a great length of rein, extremely correct. But his personality matches that as well; he’s as cool as a cucumber, you could give him to a small child to lead around, and he wouldn’t flinch.

“Nothing ever fazes him. Yellow Brick is a very beautiful horse inside and out. You watch him before a race, his mannerisms, he doesn’t get worked-up, always very relaxed and brings a great frame of mind. I have never seen him run his race before getting on the track.

“Nothing ever fazes him. Yellow Brick is a very beautiful horse inside and out. You watch him before a race, his mannerisms, he doesn’t get worked-up, always very relaxed and brings a great frame of mind.” - Maddysen Sears

“Dad and I were conversing the other day about where Yellow Brick fell in the pecking order, and he feels he’s the best horse he’s ever trained!”

Looking towards the future

The family has big missions on the horizon for Yellow Brick, with the G3 Fred Best Classic at Eagle Farm the first port of call before a tilt at the $3 million G1 Stradbroke H. back at Eagle Farm.

It doesn’t get any easier from there, with a long-term plan towards the $10 million the Golden Eagle in Sydney at Rosehill Gardens on the agenda.

“The plan is the Fred Best and Stradbroke; he will then have a spell, and we would love to have a go at the Golden Eagle.”

“The plan is the Fred Best and Stradbroke; he (Yellow Brick) will then have a spell, and we would love to have a go at the Golden Eagle.” - Maddysen Sears

However, clear from talking to Sears, win, lose or draw, the affection for Yellow Brick and the ride he has taken them on so far will never cease.

“Yellow Brick is so special. It’s a real family affair.”

Sears Racing
Yellow Brick
Stradbroke H
Paul Moroney
Catheryne Bruggeman