Lindsay Park trained Mr Brightside has made an emphatic statement ahead of the spring with an impressive first-up win at Caulfield.
The Ben, Will and J d Hayes-trained galloper recorded a second win in the Group 2 P B Lawrence Stakes (1400m) on Saturday under a perfect ride from Craig Williams.
Sent off the $2.35 Unibet.com.au favourite, Mr Brightside scored by 1-¾ lengths from Pinstriped ($6) with Aegon ($20) and eye-catching third, a nose away.
To add merit to the victory, Mr Brightside ran slick time for the trip, returning 1.21.71, just 0.51 secs outside of the course record on a good 4 rated surface.
Ben Hayes said Mr Brightside was likely to head to the Group 1 Memsie Stakes (1400m) back at Caulfield in a fortnight followed by the Group 1 Makybe Diva Stakes (1600m) at Flemington two weeks later.
That race will determine Mr Brightside’s spring path with the Group 1 King Charles III Stakes (1600m) at Randwick on October 14 or the Group 1 Cox Plate (2040m) at Moonee Valley on October 28 the gelding’s potential spring targets.
Hayes admitted to being nervous pre-race, but those fears were quickly allayed by Williams who put the gelding in the perfect position.
“From when he jumped, he landed in a beautiful position, and it was an easy watch,” Hayes said.
“It was an absolute 10-out-of-10 ride by Craig.
“We’ll see how he pulls up first, but the Memsie will probably be his next run and then the Makybe Diva and from there we’ll make a decision, but Sydney looks quite tempting.
“There’s some nice money up there and we’ll have to see how he is racing. We’ll take it race by race, but the Memsie is probably his next start.”
One brother missing from the Lindsay Park training team was Will who was playing Australian Rules Football for Euroa against Kyabram in the Goulburn Valley League on Saturday.
“I think Will would have had the water boy running out the results, and I think he’ll be a very happy man,” J D Hayes said.
Williams said the way the Hayes brothers prepared Mr Brightside for his return made his job easy.
He said his job was to turn up on race day and on jump-out days to put the gelding through his paces.
Williams added Mr Brightside had gone to another level from 12 months ago.
“It is quite scary as he is arguably the best miler in Australia,” Williams said.
“There are some good options for him and he’s just starting to show how good he is from this preparation onwards.
“Mentally he is a much more professional horse, and you could feel that today.
“I was hoping he would bring that to the races, and he did.”
