Ben Hayes will chase Group 1 success this weekend in Brisbane, but the Lindsay Park co-trainer can’t help but be excited by what will take place in Victoria this week.
Stable star Mr Brightside returns to work as he strives to assert himself as Australia’s premier middle-distance performer.
The son of Bullbars hasn’t started since winning the Doncaster Mile (1600m) for a second-straight year, which followed victory in the $5 million All Star Mile (1600m), and Hayes has been eagerly anticipating his return to work.
“He looks great, he spelled really well, he’s put on some great condition and we’re just going to build him up slowly,” Hayes, who trains in partnership with his brother JD, said.
“We’ve got plenty of time before we need to decide what races to run in. We might look at a Memsie (Stakes, first-up) or maybe kick off two weeks earlier in the Peter Lawrence (Stakes), but I think he’s in for a big Spring.”
With the retirement of Anamoe and a cloud now hovering over Zaaki after his Doomben Cup failure, Australian racing is crying out for a new middle-distance star and Hayes confident the rising six-year-old can take that step.
“Every prep he’s improved, he’s always stepped up to the mark and got better and better,” he said.
“He’s probably the best miler in Australia at the moment, a lot have gone to stud or not around any more, so I’m quietly confident he’s going to have a good spring.”
Mr Brightside is likely to be set for the $5 million Cox Plate (2040m), in which he finished seventh last year, with a possible trip to Hong Kong beckoning after his Australian spring campaign is over.
Before that, Lindsay Park is hoping for more Group 1 success this season with Gentleman Roy to represent the stable in this Saturday’s $700,000 Kingsford Smith Cup (1300m) at Eagle Farm.
The six-year-old has been freshened up since finishing midfield behind his stablemate in the Doncaster Mile and Hayes is keen to see what he can do in the first of two Group 1 starts to round out his season.
“We just gave him an easy time after the Doncaster on a Heavy 10, because didn’t like that surface,” Hayes said.
“He had a trial last week and trialled nicely, he’s come on well (since Sydney) and we’re using the Kingsford Smith as a bit of a blow out for him for the Straddy.”
The ‘Straddy’ is the $3 million Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap (1400m), which will be run at Eagle Farm on June 10.