Lindsay Park’s Mr Brightside has gone back-to-back in the Group 1 Makybe Diva Stakes, wearing down Pride Of Jenni in the shadows of the post and claiming his seventh G1 honour.
The son of Bullbars got a perfect steer from Craig Williams, camping off Ciaron Maher’s mighty mare and slowly but surely pegging back the margin in the straight.
Pride Of Jenni was ultra-brave, especially considering her lacklustre first-up performer, but as we have seen so often, Mr Brightside refused to lie down, grinding to the front despite shifting in a touch, and arriving just in time for another famous victory.
Antino, who stepped far better than he did in the Memsie, travelled well with Mr Brightside but just got left behind when the winner sprinted, holding ground well in third ahead of the resuming Warmonger.
But all honours are with Mr Brightside – somehow, he appears to be in even better shape than ever, and his recent record gives credence to this.
Having turned seven-years-old, he has raced outside of G1 level just once in his past 12 starts, and that was in the All-Star Mile.
Those 12 starts have yielded five wins, five seconds and a third – in his one miss, fifth in the Australian Cup, he pulled up lame.
And while Williams deserves all the plaudits for his superbly timed steer, he remains simply amazed by the quality and grit possessed by the horse underneath him.
“He’s an amazing racehorse,” Williams said.
“The Hayes’ have done a great job with this horse. Will (Evans), who straps the horse, told me he’s in great order.
“I was very bullish about his chances today. The way he felt, the way he pulled up. It was a harder slog today, but he’s got that tenacity to win. He’s an amazing racehorse.
“What I love about this horse (is that) I was here since his third ever race start. I think we wasted three rating points on a horse like him.
“Once he got to weight-for-age they were just a bit stronger and better than him.
“Now he’s a finished product … he’s one of the best milers in Australia. He is an absolute delight. The boys even added another gear change today, so they’re still working on him.”
Ben Hayes, who trains with brothers JD and Will, heaped praise on his superstar galloper, and finds it fitting that he has twice won a race named for another horse that didn’t know how to lie down.
With Mr Brightside’s career prizemoney sitting over $14 million as of today, you can see why the comparison now springs to mind.
“There’s only one Diva, and there’s only one Mr B. There is,” Ben Hayes said.
“We were very confident in him today, back on a heavy track, and the way he came through his first-up run. We’re just so happy with him.
“He’s amazing. 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.”
But even the top-tier horses are still horses – even at seven, Mr Brightside managed to develop a quirky habit during his time off, and the Hayes brothers have still had to tinker with his gear.
“He’s got this habit now. He just sucks his tongue back, and we just feel sometimes he gets his tongue over, and we don’t want that to happen in a race,” Ben said.
“So, we played around with the tongue tie, and we felt that just more annoyed him, and he still got his tongue out.
“Today we just put the tongue control bit on. It’s just enough to stop him getting his tongue back, and we can relax as trainers.”