Mr Brightside has exacted revenged on arch enemy Pride Of Jenni to take Group 1 honours in a thrilling race at Flemington.
Having staged a thrilling contest last spring before renewing hostilities in the autumn, Mr Brightside got the upper hand over Pride Of Jenni in the closing stages to claim a second Group 1 Makybe Diva Stakes (1600m) on Saturday.
As is her custom with regular rider Declan Bates in the saddle, Pride Of Jenni was allowed to roll along in front, holding a five-length lead turning for home.
With Craig Williams content to ride his own race, he allowed Mr Brightside ($3.50) to gradually reel in Pride Of Jenni ($5), hitting the front in the final 50m to score by a long neck with Antino ($14) a further 4-¼ lengths away third.
Lindsay Park trainers Ben, Will and J D Hayes entered Saturday’s confident Mr Brightside would atone for his first-up defeat at Caulfield in the Group 1 Memsie Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield a fortnight ago.
And their confidence grew with the rain, and hail, that fell during Saturday’s program, which saw the track downgraded from a Slow 6 to a Heavy 9 come race time.
“We were very confident in him today, back on a heavy track,” Ben Hayes said.
“His work into the race had been excellent, and he deserves it, and it was a great ride by Craig.
“He’s such a special horse and a big thank you to the whole team. He’s amazing and I’ve said it a million times, but he just keeps performing and never lets us down.
“He’s definitely the most consistent horse in Australia.”
The Hayes brothers made a subtle change to Mr Brightside’s gear, removing the tongue tie and replacing it with a tongue control bit.
Mr Brightside had been racing with his tongue out on his off-side, and the trainers wondered whether he was getting his tongue over the bit.
“He’s got this habit now where he just sucks his tongue back, and we just feel sometimes he gets his tongue over,” Hayes said.
“We didn’t want that to happen in a race, so we played around with the tongue tie, and we felt that just more annoyed him.
“He still got his tongue out, whereas today we just put a tongue control bit on, and it’s just been enough to stop him getting his tongue back.
“Now we can relax as trainers.”
Williams has been aboard Mr Brightside in 15 of the gelding’s 17 wins, including six at Group 1 level, and said the gelding was a ‘sensational horse’.
He said the Hayes brothers had done a tremendous job with the gelding who has shown longevity while at the same time earning connections more than $14 million in prize money.
“What I love about this horse is I was with him since his third ever race start,” Williams said.
“I think we wasted three ratings points on him and once he got to weight-for-age they were just a bit stronger and better than him, but now he’s the finished product and one of the best milers in Australia.
“He is an absolute delight. “
