Hayes confident Mr Brightside will deliver

Champion galloper Mr Brightside is out to silence critics in Saturday’s Group 1 $750,000 Memsie Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield, with Lindsay Park trainer Ben Hayes confident his stable star is ready to fire.

The nine-time Group 1 winner sparked debate earlier this month after a tough trial win at Flemington, where he was ridden out against lesser opposition. But Hayes defended the approach, saying it was a deliberate tactic to sharpen Mr Brightside’s fitness.

“He was out there to have a good hit-out — that was the whole purpose,” Hayes told Racenet. “People are allowed opinions. I was very happy with it.”

Now a seasoned seven-year-old, Mr Brightside has shown strong signs in the lead-up to his return. “He’s more forward this year, his coat’s in much better condition. Last year he was a hairy mammoth first-up,” Hayes quipped. “He hasn’t put a foot wrong this prep.”

The gelding tied for second in the Victorian Racehorse of the Year voting behind Cox Plate hero Via Sistina, who resumed with a win in the Group 1 Winx Stakes last Saturday.

"We're really happy with him. He did his final piece of work this morning up at the farm and worked really normal for him,'' Hayes told racing.com.

''We feel he's on track to run a great race like he always does. He's probably a bit more forward than other years. He's got a much healthier coat, which I've said a lot, he looks very healthy and well, his work's been really, really good. It's going to be a very exciting Memsie this year, I feel it's one of the stronger Memsies there's been the last couple of years, so if he draws the right barrier, gets the right run, he'll be right in it, he's beaten all of those horses before."