Yellow Brick goes agonisingly close to fairytale upset in Stradbroke Handicap
It was a bittersweet moment for father-and-daughter trainers Tony and Maddy Sears, who were proud of Yellow Brick's incredible effort but the moment was tinged with some sadness given they came so close to jagging the $1.8m winner's cheque.
But they will settle for $540,000 in prizemoney as the runner-up in Queensland's premier race run on a good track on a sunny day in Brisbane.
• PUNT LIKE A PRO: Become a Racenet iQ member and get expert tips – with fully transparent return on investment statistics – from Racenet's team of professional punters at our Pro Tips section. SUBSCRIBE NOW!
The Straddie is 1400m but if it was run over 1500m on Saturday, the Sears would be popping the champagne corks because Yellow Brick, with Andrew Mallyon on board, was starting to wear down War Machine ($2.65) approaching the winning post.
Tony Sears said he was incredibly proud of Maddy, who had been training Yellow Brick at the pair's Gold Coast stables before he joined his daughter on the Glitter Strip just two weeks ago.
• 'The boys have done it': Hayes proud of sons' landmark Stradbroke success
'I'm more proud of Maddysen than the horse,' he said.
'She's done a great job getting him ready.
'I've only been down the Gold Coast for two weeks. She's defied all the odds. People think he wasn't going very well but we knew he was going well.
'I backed him. We honestly thought he could win. He's just got to be ridden quiet like that.
'It was unbelievable, she's done a great job with him.'
Maddy Sears said after the race she was 'speechless'.
'He was tremendous,' she said about Yellow Brick, who last won in a $160,000 Listed race over 1400m at Eagle Farm in October.
'That was the favourite (War Machine) in the race and he gave him a fair headstart at the top of the straight.
'He was the widest runner and he had to do things the hard way but I couldn't be any prouder.'
This week Maddy Sears compared five-year-old gelding Yellow Brick to a Labrador Retriever because he 'loves to be the centre of attention'.
And although the spoils of victory went to War Machine and Lindsay Park, Yellow Brick sure grabbed his share of attention.
• What the jockeys said: 2025 Stradbroke Handicap
Meanwhile, champion jockey Craig Williams said another Queensland hero, old warrior Rothfire, was 'gallant' in finishing seventh for trainer Rob Heathcote, who would have preferred a softer track.
The seven-year-old Rothfire had battled a hoof injury for the past 10 days after suffering an untimely stone bruise and was lucky to even make the prestigious race.
'From the outside barrier draw he gave me a beautiful ride from there,' Williams said about the 2020 JJ Atkins champion.
'I got on the back of the eventual winner. He travelled so well but the winner was too good for us late.
'He just got a bit tired today and as Rob Heathcote said, he didn't have the ideal preparation.'
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The two players who will decide Origin glory. And it's not who you expect
"Critta" and "The Hammer" are the two players who hold the key to State of Origin III and where it will be won and lost in Sydney on Wednesday night. And with it the series, since NSW and Queensland are locked up at a game apiece after the Blues, having easily won game one in Brisbane, botched the first half of game two in Perth before making a comeback that just fell short. It's always easy to nominate star players in the halves as the ones who will have the biggest influence on a result. Particularly at Origin level where you have genuine superstars like NSW halfback Nathan Cleary and Queensland five-eighth Cameron Munster so heavily involved. But if you go back and have another look at Origins I and II you'll see what I mean when it comes to Blues centre Stephen "Critta" Crichton and Maroons fullback Hamiso "The Hammer" Tabuai-Fidow. We'll start with Tabuai-Fidow, who will be playing in his third different position in this series after being at left centre in game one and left wing in game two. Even before Kalyn Ponga, the Queensland fullback in Origins I and II, was injured playing for Newcastle last weekend I thought Brisbane's Reece Walsh should've been promoted to fullback for the decider. Ponga had been ordinary in the series so far. So I was shocked when, after Ponga became unavailable, Maroons coach Billy Slater moved Tabuai-Fidow from the wing to fullback and included Walsh only as 18th man. But I get it now. You're going to need top-shelf difference-makers in attack, playing in their best positions, to win this game and The Hammer is absolutely crushing it at fullback for the rising Dolphins in the NRL this season. He's a try-scorer (15 in 14 games this season, including four in his most recent game and eight in his last four), has a mammoth 68 tackle breaks and averages 175 running metres, with totals of 237 and 264 in his last two games. The Hammer can break a game open from anywhere on the field and as much as Queensland will be preparing to defend well in Origin III they know they're going to need to produce something extra-special in attack to win. Ponga wasn't doing it and Walsh, while he's a tremendous attacking player himself, isn't nearly as prolific a try-scorer as Tabuai-Fidow and tends to have more errors in him. Tabuai-Fidow scored two tries in Origin II - one with a straight-forward winger's finish and the other when he won the contest off a high kick to the corner. Playing at fullback is just going to make him more involved in attack and therefore even more dangerous. But leaving Walsh out and moving Tabuai-Fidow to fullback meant Slater had to find a new player in the three-quarters and he shocked everyone when he came up with Brisbane centre Gehamat Shibasaki. Shibasaki was really struggling to make a career of it in the NRL before this season, having played a total of 30 games for four clubs in six years. But in 2025, in the first year of a second stint with the Broncos, he has scored 12 tries in 15 games including doubles in each of his last three outings. MORE NRL NEWS So he has proved he can get among the tries under the right circumstances, which again is critical to Queensland's chances, but the big reason the Maroons were forced into disarray in defence out wide on the left in games I and II still remains. That is Crichton, at right centre for NSW. He gets a lot of praise for his fantastic defence, but he's a genius in attack as well. He has the knack of sucking in defenders whether he's running with the ball or as a decoy and he's incredibly unselfish, which is why he doesn't score more tries himself. "Critta" makes so many tries it must be a winger's dream to play outside him. Tabuai-Fidow and Valentine Holmes couldn't handle him in games one and two respectively and now it's Shibasaki's turn to try to stop him with the support of Holmes, who has gone back to left wing. NSW will be preparing to put Crichton in those one-on-one situations and he'll be relishing the opportunity to either create try-scoring opportunities for Zac Lomax on the wing or go himself if the space is narrowing close to the line. Crichton did both things to effect across Origins I and II and now he's going opposite a player making his Origin debut. It will be a massive challenge for Shibasaki to try to shut him down. THE Warriors can't win the premiership now they've lost their halfback Luke Metcalf for the rest of the season through injury, joining prop Mitch Barnett as a major out. They looked like contenders during the first half of the season, but this is a left to the body followed by a right to the jaw that they won't survive. The currently fourth-placed Warriors are a very well-drilled outfit under coach Andrew Webster and they'll try to grind wins out from here, but they'll be doing very well if they can hang on to a top-four spot going into the finals. Even with the four-point break they had over fifth place heading into this weekend's round, where they have a bye. THE benchmark has been set now, for all teams to see, by Penrith and Canterbury with the quality of their epic clash last week. If you haven't got the ability, when it's necessary, to rise to that level, which was above every other game so far this season, then forget about winning the competition. "Critta" and "The Hammer" are the two players who hold the key to State of Origin III and where it will be won and lost in Sydney on Wednesday night. And with it the series, since NSW and Queensland are locked up at a game apiece after the Blues, having easily won game one in Brisbane, botched the first half of game two in Perth before making a comeback that just fell short. It's always easy to nominate star players in the halves as the ones who will have the biggest influence on a result. Particularly at Origin level where you have genuine superstars like NSW halfback Nathan Cleary and Queensland five-eighth Cameron Munster so heavily involved. But if you go back and have another look at Origins I and II you'll see what I mean when it comes to Blues centre Stephen "Critta" Crichton and Maroons fullback Hamiso "The Hammer" Tabuai-Fidow. We'll start with Tabuai-Fidow, who will be playing in his third different position in this series after being at left centre in game one and left wing in game two. Even before Kalyn Ponga, the Queensland fullback in Origins I and II, was injured playing for Newcastle last weekend I thought Brisbane's Reece Walsh should've been promoted to fullback for the decider. Ponga had been ordinary in the series so far. So I was shocked when, after Ponga became unavailable, Maroons coach Billy Slater moved Tabuai-Fidow from the wing to fullback and included Walsh only as 18th man. But I get it now. You're going to need top-shelf difference-makers in attack, playing in their best positions, to win this game and The Hammer is absolutely crushing it at fullback for the rising Dolphins in the NRL this season. He's a try-scorer (15 in 14 games this season, including four in his most recent game and eight in his last four), has a mammoth 68 tackle breaks and averages 175 running metres, with totals of 237 and 264 in his last two games. The Hammer can break a game open from anywhere on the field and as much as Queensland will be preparing to defend well in Origin III they know they're going to need to produce something extra-special in attack to win. Ponga wasn't doing it and Walsh, while he's a tremendous attacking player himself, isn't nearly as prolific a try-scorer as Tabuai-Fidow and tends to have more errors in him. Tabuai-Fidow scored two tries in Origin II - one with a straight-forward winger's finish and the other when he won the contest off a high kick to the corner. Playing at fullback is just going to make him more involved in attack and therefore even more dangerous. But leaving Walsh out and moving Tabuai-Fidow to fullback meant Slater had to find a new player in the three-quarters and he shocked everyone when he came up with Brisbane centre Gehamat Shibasaki. Shibasaki was really struggling to make a career of it in the NRL before this season, having played a total of 30 games for four clubs in six years. But in 2025, in the first year of a second stint with the Broncos, he has scored 12 tries in 15 games including doubles in each of his last three outings. MORE NRL NEWS So he has proved he can get among the tries under the right circumstances, which again is critical to Queensland's chances, but the big reason the Maroons were forced into disarray in defence out wide on the left in games I and II still remains. That is Crichton, at right centre for NSW. He gets a lot of praise for his fantastic defence, but he's a genius in attack as well. He has the knack of sucking in defenders whether he's running with the ball or as a decoy and he's incredibly unselfish, which is why he doesn't score more tries himself. "Critta" makes so many tries it must be a winger's dream to play outside him. Tabuai-Fidow and Valentine Holmes couldn't handle him in games one and two respectively and now it's Shibasaki's turn to try to stop him with the support of Holmes, who has gone back to left wing. NSW will be preparing to put Crichton in those one-on-one situations and he'll be relishing the opportunity to either create try-scoring opportunities for Zac Lomax on the wing or go himself if the space is narrowing close to the line. Crichton did both things to effect across Origins I and II and now he's going opposite a player making his Origin debut. It will be a massive challenge for Shibasaki to try to shut him down. THE Warriors can't win the premiership now they've lost their halfback Luke Metcalf for the rest of the season through injury, joining prop Mitch Barnett as a major out. They looked like contenders during the first half of the season, but this is a left to the body followed by a right to the jaw that they won't survive. The currently fourth-placed Warriors are a very well-drilled outfit under coach Andrew Webster and they'll try to grind wins out from here, but they'll be doing very well if they can hang on to a top-four spot going into the finals. Even with the four-point break they had over fifth place heading into this weekend's round, where they have a bye. THE benchmark has been set now, for all teams to see, by Penrith and Canterbury with the quality of their epic clash last week. If you haven't got the ability, when it's necessary, to rise to that level, which was above every other game so far this season, then forget about winning the competition. "Critta" and "The Hammer" are the two players who hold the key to State of Origin III and where it will be won and lost in Sydney on Wednesday night. And with it the series, since NSW and Queensland are locked up at a game apiece after the Blues, having easily won game one in Brisbane, botched the first half of game two in Perth before making a comeback that just fell short. It's always easy to nominate star players in the halves as the ones who will have the biggest influence on a result. Particularly at Origin level where you have genuine superstars like NSW halfback Nathan Cleary and Queensland five-eighth Cameron Munster so heavily involved. But if you go back and have another look at Origins I and II you'll see what I mean when it comes to Blues centre Stephen "Critta" Crichton and Maroons fullback Hamiso "The Hammer" Tabuai-Fidow. We'll start with Tabuai-Fidow, who will be playing in his third different position in this series after being at left centre in game one and left wing in game two. Even before Kalyn Ponga, the Queensland fullback in Origins I and II, was injured playing for Newcastle last weekend I thought Brisbane's Reece Walsh should've been promoted to fullback for the decider. Ponga had been ordinary in the series so far. So I was shocked when, after Ponga became unavailable, Maroons coach Billy Slater moved Tabuai-Fidow from the wing to fullback and included Walsh only as 18th man. But I get it now. You're going to need top-shelf difference-makers in attack, playing in their best positions, to win this game and The Hammer is absolutely crushing it at fullback for the rising Dolphins in the NRL this season. He's a try-scorer (15 in 14 games this season, including four in his most recent game and eight in his last four), has a mammoth 68 tackle breaks and averages 175 running metres, with totals of 237 and 264 in his last two games. The Hammer can break a game open from anywhere on the field and as much as Queensland will be preparing to defend well in Origin III they know they're going to need to produce something extra-special in attack to win. Ponga wasn't doing it and Walsh, while he's a tremendous attacking player himself, isn't nearly as prolific a try-scorer as Tabuai-Fidow and tends to have more errors in him. Tabuai-Fidow scored two tries in Origin II - one with a straight-forward winger's finish and the other when he won the contest off a high kick to the corner. Playing at fullback is just going to make him more involved in attack and therefore even more dangerous. But leaving Walsh out and moving Tabuai-Fidow to fullback meant Slater had to find a new player in the three-quarters and he shocked everyone when he came up with Brisbane centre Gehamat Shibasaki. Shibasaki was really struggling to make a career of it in the NRL before this season, having played a total of 30 games for four clubs in six years. But in 2025, in the first year of a second stint with the Broncos, he has scored 12 tries in 15 games including doubles in each of his last three outings. MORE NRL NEWS So he has proved he can get among the tries under the right circumstances, which again is critical to Queensland's chances, but the big reason the Maroons were forced into disarray in defence out wide on the left in games I and II still remains. That is Crichton, at right centre for NSW. He gets a lot of praise for his fantastic defence, but he's a genius in attack as well. He has the knack of sucking in defenders whether he's running with the ball or as a decoy and he's incredibly unselfish, which is why he doesn't score more tries himself. "Critta" makes so many tries it must be a winger's dream to play outside him. Tabuai-Fidow and Valentine Holmes couldn't handle him in games one and two respectively and now it's Shibasaki's turn to try to stop him with the support of Holmes, who has gone back to left wing. NSW will be preparing to put Crichton in those one-on-one situations and he'll be relishing the opportunity to either create try-scoring opportunities for Zac Lomax on the wing or go himself if the space is narrowing close to the line. Crichton did both things to effect across Origins I and II and now he's going opposite a player making his Origin debut. It will be a massive challenge for Shibasaki to try to shut him down. THE Warriors can't win the premiership now they've lost their halfback Luke Metcalf for the rest of the season through injury, joining prop Mitch Barnett as a major out. They looked like contenders during the first half of the season, but this is a left to the body followed by a right to the jaw that they won't survive. The currently fourth-placed Warriors are a very well-drilled outfit under coach Andrew Webster and they'll try to grind wins out from here, but they'll be doing very well if they can hang on to a top-four spot going into the finals. Even with the four-point break they had over fifth place heading into this weekend's round, where they have a bye. THE benchmark has been set now, for all teams to see, by Penrith and Canterbury with the quality of their epic clash last week. If you haven't got the ability, when it's necessary, to rise to that level, which was above every other game so far this season, then forget about winning the competition.
News.com.au
an hour ago
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2025 Winx Guineas: Owner Peter Tighe's Mister Bianco trying to win the race that started mighty mare's winning streak
Winx's part-owner Peter Tighe won't be in Australia when his gelding Mister Bianco contests the Group 3 Winx Guineas (1600m) at the Sunshine Coast on Saturday but trainer Paul Shailer still likes the 'romance' in the story. Tighe is spending a few weeks on holiday in the United States, where he will attend a screening of the Janine Hosking-directed movie A Horse Named Winx at the end of this month in Arizona. But it will still be a momentous occasion for Tighe if three-year-old Mister Bianco can take out the $300,000 race named after the mighty mare who captured the hearts of racing fans on a global scale. • PUNT LIKE A PRO: Become a Racenet iQ member and get expert tips – with fully transparent return on investment statistics – from Racenet's team of professional punters at our Pro Tips section. SUBSCRIBE NOW! In 2015 Winx produced a remarkable last-to-first surge to secure the race, then known as the Sunshine Coast Guineas, marking the start of the superstar's amazing 33-race winning streak before her retirement in April 2019. That was the last time Tighe had a runner in the field and it would be an emotion-charged victory if Mister Bianco can salute in the owner's Magic Bloodstock colours in the Winx Guineas, although the task was made a bit tougher after the $3.30 favourite drew barrier 17 out of 18 on Wednesday. Winx's incredible win in the Sunshine Coast Guineas (now the Winx Guineas) in 2015 was the start of her 33-win streak! 🤩 — SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) July 2, 2025 • 'He's in Arizona, he's having a month over there,' Gold Coast -based Kiwi trainer Shailer said about Tighe. 'He's having a good time, although he told me it's about 44C over there. The Winx movie is on over there at the end of the month so he'll be going to the screening of that. 'He hasn't had a runner (in the Winx Guineas) since Winx so there's a bit of romance to the story.' Shailer turned to jockey Ryan Maloney to steer Mister Bianco this Saturday after regular riders Michael Rodd (broken hand) and Andrew Mallyon, who had joined Craig Williams on a humanitarian mission to Ukraine, were unavailable. Three wins on the trot to Mister Bianco as he wins at @IpswichTurfClub today! ðŸ'�ðŸ'�ðŸ'� @mallyon_andrew @RacingShailer @RaceQLD — SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) June 21, 2025 • Kosciuszko build-up begins without defending champ 'He's one of only three jockeys who have won on him and it's pretty important with that horse that he gets a rider who's familiar with him so we're pretty happy to engage him,' Shailer said. 'He's just a horse that lacks confidence and you've got to go with him and trick him into thinking that he's in control. 'The more you fight him, he just gets aggressive and resents it, so he always needs a rider with lovely quiet hands. 'Andrew, Michael and Ryan are those sort of riders and they really suit him.' Mister Bianco is shooting for his fourth straight victory this weekend following his last-start triumph in the $150,000 TL Cooney (1350m) at Ipswich on June 21. The son of Zousain leads the Winx Guineas betting market ahead of the only other horses in single figures – Millie De Lune ($4.60) and Apuntar ($8.50). 'Most horses get better with time and with another prep under his belt, he should be no exception,' Shailer said. 'Once he has this run and then goes for a break, he'll come back a better horse, I'm sure of it. 'He's racing well. There's still a question mark about him ticking the 1600m box. 'The weather shouldn't affect his chances because he goes well on both dry and rain-affected tracks so he's pretty versatile in that manner. 'It's important there's a genuine tempo for him to sit off because that's when he races at his best.'
News.com.au
7 hours ago
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Jockey Kyle Wilson-Taylor is Hopeful of winning feature race success at Sunshine Coast on Saturday
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