One of Australia’s top money earners, Mr Brightside, could be heading west later this year for a potential tilt at The Pinnacles carnival in Perth.
The Lindsay Park team of Ben, Will and JD Hayes has entered the star gelding for the $1.5 million Group 3 The Gold Rush (1400m) at Ascot on December 13.
Ben Hayes said a final decision on travelling to Perth will depend on how Mr Brightside performs in his next few starts, including the Group 1 Champions Mile (1600m) at Flemington on November 8 and potentially the Group 1 C F Orr Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield a week later.
Hayes noted that the rescheduling of the Orr Stakes to conclude the Melbourne Spring Carnival has altered the stable’s usual autumn planning for the champion miler.
“We’ve put him in the noms for Perth, and the thinking is that they’ve moved the Orr to being a week after the Champions Mile,” Hayes said.
“We just think that his prep in the autumn there is only the Futurity and the All-Star Mile and then you either go out to 2000 (metres) or go to Sydney where there’s the Doncaster Mile and All-Aged Stakes.”
He added that while no decision has been made, the Perth trip could serve as a valuable bridge between campaigns.
“There’s a lot of water to go under the bridge. He needs to run well in the Champions Mile and there’s also the option of backing him up in the Orr, but we’ve never done that before,” he said.
“If we do go to Perth, it keeps him ticking over and ready to hit the Futurity really fit.”
Traveling west is a familiar tradition for the Hayes family, with Ben’s grandfather Colin and father David both campaigning horses successfully at the Perth carnival.
“The trip over brings horses on,” Hayes said. “You can argue his trip to Hong Kong improved him. He’s come back in career best form.”
Lindsay Park has also entered several stablemates for Perth features, including Evaporate, War Machine, Arkansaw Kid, Apulia, Alenquer, Here To Shock and Marble Arch, across the Railway Stakes, Winterbottom Stakes, Northerly Stakes and The Gold Rush.
Punters keen to bet on The Gold Rush or the Perth carnival can find odds at top Australian betting sites such as Sportsbet, Ladbrokes and TAB.
