Mr Brightside (NZ) (Bullbars) gave Ben & JD Hayes their first Group One winner, taking out the 2021 Gr.1 Doncaster Mile (1600m), and he will follow a similar initial preparation to last Spring as he is set to resume in Saturday’s Gr.2 P B Lawrence Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield.
New addition to the Hayes training trio, Will Hayes, is hoping the stable stalwart can give him his first Group One winner as part of the Lindsay Park operation and thinks the six-year-old is ready to go first up, having won his most recent jump out.
“We couldn’t be more thrilled with his two trials that he’s done at Flemington, he’s in terrific order, he’s a warhorse now, he’s got plenty of pre-seasons under the belt so we’re hoping for a very forward run first up,” Hayes said.
Runs in the Gr.1 Memsie Stakes (1400m) and Gr.1 Makybe Diva Stakes (1600m) are also pencilled in, with the latter to determine whether he returns to Moonee Valley for another Gr.1 Cox Plate (2040m) tilt or is kept to a mile.
“We’ll make that decision after the Makybe Diva. We’re definitely going to see how he gets through those first few runs and then make the best decisions from there,” Hayes said.
All 11 of Mr Brightside’s wins have come between 1400-1630m, and the A$8 million earner could potentially chase international riches later this year.
The Kiwi import was originally trained by Ralph Manning in Cambridge, for whom he ran a luckless fifth in his sole New Zealand start at Matamata before being sold privately to clients of the Hayes stable via Australian agent Wayne Ormond.
A possible overseas trip to visit father David Hayes in Hong Kong for December’s Gr.1 Hong Kong Mile (1600m) is still very much in mind, with the Cox Plate form already standing up in last year’s edition through Laws Of Indices.
“It’s still a long way away but it’s definitely on the table,” Hayes said.
