Shortly after Melbourne unleased hail and blinding rain, the great foes Mr Brightside and Pride Of Jenni went toe to toe down the Flemington straight under brilliant sunshine in the $750,000 Group 1 Crown Makybe Diva Stakes (1600m).
The front-running Pride Of Jenni was at her tenacious best but could not hold the finish of the defending champion Mr Brightside.
Ridden by Craig Willimas for Ben, Will and JD Hayes, the 7-year-old son of Bullbars defeated the 7-year-old daughter of Pride Of Dubai by a long-neck with the Queenslander Antino (Redwood) four and a quarter lengths back in third.
With his seventh Group 1, Mr Brightside advances his record to 16 wins, seven seconds, and three thirds from 35 starts with earnings of $13,612,752.
“That was thrilling. What a spectacle,” JD Hayes enthused.
“Pride Of Jenni was so brave out in front as she is, and our bloke had to knuckle down to the task. He’s a model of consistency and we’re so glad to have him.
“He’s unbelievable. He truly is unique. We don’t take it lightly to have a horse like him in the stable. To come back now as an older horse and perform like that is huge. He’s like a fine wine.
Ben Hayes said the stable was confident Mr Bightside had significantly improved from his last start second to pinstriped in the Group 1 Memsie Stakes.
“He's such a special horse. He's amazing,” Hayes said.
“I've said it a million times, but he just keeps performing and never lets us down. And it's so important. He's definitely the most consistent horse in Australia.
“He's got this habit now of sucking his tongue back, and we just feel sometimes he gets his tongue over. And we don't want that to happen in a race.
“So we played around with the tongue tie, and we felt that just more annoyed him. Still got his tongue out, where today we just put the tongue control bit on. And it's just enough to stop him getting his tongue back, and we can relax as trainers.”
Craig Williams won the Group 1 feature for the fifth time.
“He’s a sensational horse. The Hayes’ have done a great job,” Williams said.
“Will 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 slow today but he’s got that tenacity to win. He’s an amazing racehorse.”
Bred by Ray Johnson in partnership with his late wife Martha, Mr Brightside was sold as a yearling for $22,000 from the Phoenix Park draft at the 2019 New Zealand Bloodstock May Sale. He failed to meet his $50,000 reserve when re-offered at the New Zealand Bloodstock Ready to Run Sale.
Johnson repurchased him on gavelhouse.com for just $7,750 in conjunction with Cambridge trainer Ralph Manning and good friend Shaun Dromgool.
A luckless fifth at his lone New Zealand start at Matamata, the son of Bullbars was sold privately to clients of the Hayes stable in a deal brokered by Australian agent Wayne Ormond.
Mr Brightside is the best of five winners from five to race for the unraced Tavistock mare Lilahjay.
Busuttin Racing / First Light Racing shelled out $70,000 for Lilahjay’s Darci Brahma filly named Lady Brightside at Karaka in 2023.
She has an unnamed 2-year-old filly by Darci Brahma and was covered by Satono Aladdin (JPN) last spring.
