Champion galloper Mr Brightside faces some hot opposition at Caulfield on Saturday (22 February) as he aims to defend his G1 Futurity Stakes (1400m) title.
Despite failing to beat a runner home at his last start in the HK$98 million G1 The Everest (1200m) in October, Peter Moody and Katherine Coleman-trained I Wish I Win poses the biggest threat to Mr Brightside securing his ninth Group 1 victory.
Trained at the famed Lindsay Park by Ben, Will and JD Hayes, the brothers are confident their seven-year-old gelding can overturn his first-up defeat when he ran a narrow second to Another Wil in the G1 C F Orr Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield.
Punters continue to back Mr Brightside who has an outstanding record at the track and distance, plus his second-up form is also impressive with five wins and a second from seven starts. His track and distance record is also formidable with five wins and two seconds.
After drawing barrier eight in a field of 10 in the C F Orr Stakes earlier this month, JD Hayes said they were hoping to draw in this time, but it couldn’t have been much worse when Mr Brightside drew the extreme outside barrier in the 11-horse field.
I Wish I Win has the luxury of barrier three.
But the three co-trainers, who are the sons of Hong Kong-based trainer David Hayes, were thrilled with their horse’s first-up effort after last winning the G1 VRC Champions Mile (1600m) at Flemington last November.
JD Hayes said he expects Mr Brightside to go “super” and was hoping for a barrier from two to five to get a bit of cover.
“We don’t want another wide barrier,” he said. “He has tightened up beautifully and I think he’ll be awfully hard to beat,” he said. “He has improved and we are very happy with him. He has been an incredible horse.”
Hayes said the target after Saturday’s race is the G1 All Star Mile (1600m) on 8 March at Flemington and then the G1 FWD Champions Mile (1600m) on FWD Champions Day at Sha Tin on 27 April.
It will be the first time Mr Brightside and I Wish I Win have clashed since the 2023 G1 Memsie Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield when I Wish I Win ran third to Mr Brightside by half a length.
James Cummings pair Tom Kitten and Pericles, along with Chris Waller-trained Private Life, are all expected to be in the firing line.
Private Life, a three-year-old colt and a Group 1 winner of the Caulfield Guineas (1600m), resumed in the C F Orr Stakes with a fourth which pleased Waller.
Despite being big odds, Western Australian-trained Super Smink is given a good chance by his trainer Daniel Morton who was initially disappointed with the filly’s performance in the C F Orr Stakes (1400m).
“But after reviewing it and the way the track played, the general consensus was the inside wasn’t where you needed to be,” he said. “That said, there’s no sugar coating it, she popped late, it looked to me she was going to run into third or fourth.”
Morton said the filly had pulled up well and believes there is plenty of improvement.
