Patrick Kearney is hoping Yellowbrick Road's dramatic win at Sandown on Wednesday is a sign of things to come for his stable, as he looks to improve his bloodstock quality at the upcoming yearling sales.

The son of Golden Horn was well rated in front by Rhys McLeod throughout the 2100-metre Benchmark 70 and kept finding to cling onto a margin from a wall of challengers.

The Ballarat-based trainer was delighted to register his first Melbourne winner within three years of gaining his licence and will now look to test Yellowbrick Road at a higher level.

He also feels the achievement is symbolic of how well the stable, striking at 16 per cent from its past 50 runners, has progressed in recent months.

"I'm really happy and really proud of the way the horse is going at the moment," he said.

"We'll probably head off to the (Group 3) Lord Reims Stakes at Morphettville and then try and see if we can get him to the Adelaide Cup.

"You're obviously always trying to achieve bigger things and I feel like with the quality of horses that we have, we're doing a really good job."

Kearney had to sweat the win in the stewards' room, with connections of both Lauding (second) and Adonis Kick (third) alleging interference over the final stages.

But he said he wasn't too worried when he saw the head-on footage, believing the bulk of the interference was not Yellowbrick Road's fault.

"I thought we'd be pretty right the whole way through, the interference wasn't really caused by us from the beginning," he said.

"So, I was pretty confident and Rhys was pretty confident that we'd be ok."

Yellowbrick Road was just an $8,500 buy in the 2023 Early June Sale on Inglis Digital and has now won a touch under $70,000 for his new yard.

Yellowbrick Road, Ashy Boy - bought for $7500 and now with Glenn Stevenson in Tasmania, though still part-owned by Kearney - and Governor ($16,000) were just a few of the successful tried-horse purchases who have helped establish the stable over the past few years.

But Kearney is ready to make more plays in the yearling market, already spending $90,000 on an Ocean Park colt at the recent NZ sales at Karaka, with that pedigree page already receiving four winning updates.

He has also found success at the Tasmanian Magic Millions sales - lightly raced 2022 purchase Buddong has already broken her maiden and will line up in Sunday's Listed Strutt Stakes at Hobart.

Kearney is hopeful a strong result there, and more city winners in general, can attract owners to his operation as he attempts to up the ante in the sales ring.

"I've only bought one so far this year, but I'll definitely be down in Tassie for the sales, I couldn't miss that … I'm definitely going to be targeting nicer horses," he said.

"I've got a runner in the Strutt Stakes this Sunday that's heading towards the Tasmanian Oaks, so hopefully she can get the job done and that will really start to get the ball rolling properly."

- Racing.com news desk