Mr Brightside to head to Sydney for the G1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes
The Lindsay Park team of Ben Will and Jd Hayes will press ahead with plans to head to Sydney with Mr Brightside for The Championships.
After winning the Group 1 Doncaster Mile in 2022 and again last year, Mr Brightside is being aimed at the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) at Randwick on Saturday week.
Mr Bightside pulled up a little sore in the right foreleg and needs a veterinary clearance after finishing fifth in the Group 1 Australian Cup (2000m) at Flemington last Saturday before starting.
J D Hayes said Mr Brightside had ‘pulled up within normal limits’, doing some work on Monday.
“He pulled up a little stiff and sore, as you do after a football game, or in this case a hard 2000-metre run like that,” Hayes told RSN.
“He was under saddle this morning and looked great, so it all system go to the Queen Elizabeth.”
Hayes said Mr Brightside would be ridden differently in the Queen Elizabeth with Pride Of Jenni again being in the race.
He said Pride Of Jenni was an amazing horse, a modern-day Vo Rogue.
“It was a proper run 2000 metres and what we have taken out of it is that we can absorb those hard run tempos at 1400 and the mile,” Hayes said.
“But at 2000 metres we probably need to ride him a bit more conservatively and hit the line and we’ll be going to the Queen Elizabeth with that approach.
“The heavy ground, that it looks like it will be on the weekend, hopefully stays around next week.
“He loves the sting out, so hopefully that will be another tick in his corner.
“In the last two years our trips to Sydney have been successful and hopefully it will be this time.”
Mr Brightside has been entered for two races in Hong Kong later in the month, but Hayes has all but ruled out the gelding making the trip.
“We’ll get through the Queen Elizabeth first, but it is looking unlikely,” he said.The Lindsay Park team of Ben Will and Jd Hayes will press ahead with plans to head to Sydney with Mr Brightside for The Championships.
After winning the Group 1 Doncaster Mile in 2022 and again last year, Mr Brightside is being aimed at the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) at Randwick on Saturday week.
Mr Bightside pulled up a little sore in the right foreleg and needs a veterinary clearance after finishing fifth in the Group 1 Australian Cup (2000m) at Flemington last Saturday before starting.
J D Hayes said Mr Brightside had ‘pulled up within normal limits’, doing some work on Monday.
“He pulled up a little stiff and sore, as you do after a football game, or in this case a hard 2000-metre run like that,” Hayes told RSN.
“He was under saddle this morning and looked great, so it all system go to the Queen Elizabeth.”
Hayes said Mr Brightside would be ridden differently in the Queen Elizabeth with Pride Of Jenni again being in the race.
He said Pride Of Jenni was an amazing horse, a modern-day Vo Rogue.
“It was a proper run 2000 metres and what we have taken out of it is that we can absorb those hard run tempos at 1400 and the mile,” Hayes said.
“But at 2000 metres we probably need to ride him a bit more conservatively and hit the line and we’ll be going to the Queen Elizabeth with that approach.
“The heavy ground, that it looks like it will be on the weekend, hopefully stays around next week.
“He loves the sting out, so hopefully that will be another tick in his corner.
“In the last two years our trips to Sydney have been successful and hopefully it will be this time.”
Mr Brightside has been entered for two races in Hong Kong later in the month, but Hayes has all but ruled out the gelding making the trip.
“We’ll get through the Queen Elizabeth first, but it is looking unlikely,” he said.
More Racing News
Dan Morton keeps faith with 2024 Railway Stakes mare
Trainer Dan Morton has shrugged aside Super Smink’s horror barrier draw and still thinks she can win the Group 1 Swan Draught-Railway Stakes (1600m) at Ascot on Saturday. A layer of complexity was added to Super Smink’s Railway Stakes bid after she was handed barrier 18, but Dan Morton is keeping the...
Timing right for Port Lockroy in G1 Railway Stakes bid
He’s one of five interstate raiders and the outsider of the quintet, but co-trainer, Rob Archibald believes there is a sense of timing about Port Lockroy in Saturday’s Group 1 Railway Stakes (1600m) at Ascot. Rob Archibald, who shares training duties with Annabel Neasham, says Port Lockroy put himself into Railway Stakes...
Royal task for Gilded Water at local debut
A benchmark race on The Gong undercard will add some Royal flavour to the stand-alone Kembla Grange meeting when a horse owned by His Majesty King Charles III makes his local debut. Four-year-old Gilded Water has been sent to Australia to continue his racing career, having started just four times in the...
Improving trio to fly flag for Godolphin at Kembla Grange
Godolphin doesn’t have a representative in The Gong, but James Cummings is content to rely on a trio of up-and-coming sprinters to carry the stable’s hopes at the stand-alone Kembla Grange meeting. Fleetwood will headline the leading yard’s squad when he resumes in the Group 3 The Warra (1000m), while Pisanello and Restonica contest benchmark...
Jason Collett hoping to find Express lane in The Gong
Jason Collett is resigned to the fact that he will be more reliant on luck than good management as he tries to coax another win out of Territory Express in the $1 million The Gong at Kembla Grange. The Provincial-Midway Championships Final victor in the autumn, Territory Express has a get-back racing pattern...
Mark Walker aims for ‘new’ hometown Cranbourne Cup
Trainer Mark Walker has a good record when in form New Zealand gallopers land in Australia. Walker’s latest ‘import’ is It’s A Wild Night who will have his first Australian outing in the Listed Cranbourne Cup (1600m) on Saturday. It’s A Wild Night arrived at Walker’s Cranbourne base just over a week ago...
Railway Stakes 2024 timing perfect for Baker’s Bel
In-form mare Belclare will need to overcome a wide alley to land her first Australian Group One win in the Railway Stakes at Ascot, and connections believe Nash Rawiller is the perfect man for the job. A two-time victor at the highest level in New Zealand, Belclare joined the Sydney stable of Bjorn...
Trainer Gavin Bedggood chasing Fortune in The Meteorite
Gavin Bedggood hopes the decision to take Oscar’s Fortune to Cranbourne for a midweek gallop will pay off handsomely on Saturday. Oscar’s Fortune runs in the $1 million The Meteorite (1200m), a new ‘slot race’ that Southside Racing, a merged entity of the Cranbourne and Pakenham Clubs, runs for the first time. The former...
John Stewart eyes Melbourne with 2024 Japan Cup fancy
Goliath faces one of the toughest tasks in racing this weekend, beating the Japanese at home in their biggest race, but John Stewart is already planning his next moves with his star recruit and Australia is on the itinerary. The ambitious American has quickly become a powerful investor in Australian racing and...
Hedged poised to give The Warra rivals a trim-up
The Magic Millions carnival is the campaign focal point for promising sprinter Hedged, but trainers Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr are hoping he can knock off a feature race along the way. The gelding will resume in the Group 3 The Warra (1000m) at Kembla Grange on Saturday, his first start...