More history beckons Brightside

It’s one thing to rewrite the record books, but it’s another thing to do that altogether when that piece of history is already in the family.

On Saturday, Mr Brightside will be out to land his 11th Group 1 triumph and his second-successive Champions Mile at Flemington.

No horse has gone back-to-back in the 1600-metre feature since Seascay did it in 1994 and 1995, firstly under the training of David Hayes, before he was transferred into the care of David’s late brother Peter when David moved to train in Hong Kong for the first time.

On both occasions, Seascay was ridden by David Taggart.

“He was a very good horse, understated, consistent at the top level,” David Hayes said of Seascay.

Despite that, Hayes revealed that Seascay wasn’t of the same quality as Mr Brightside, who is trained by his sons Ben, Will and JD.

“I think I would describe him as a poor man’s Brightside,” Hayes said. “I think Brightside, his consistency at the Group 1 level is as good as you can see, 10 or 11 Group 1s and placed in another 12.

“I don’t think you could compare them, even though Seascay had a good record, Brightside’s got a great record.”

Mr Brightside will be fourth-up in Saturday’s $3 million contest, having run a very brave second in the G1 King Charles III Stakes at Randwick in his previous start.

“He’s all guns blazing,” said JD Hayes. “Hopefully the rain keeps coming.”

When asked to compare the current version of Mr Brightside to the horse who saluted at Flemington in 2024, the younger Hayes replied: “He’s just as good, if not better.”

WATCH: Mr Brightside’s latest run