Mr Brightside wins thrilling Futurity Stakes contest at Caulfield

Mr Brightside again cemented his status as one of Australia’s top gallopers with a win in the Group 1 Futurity Stakes on Saturday. The seven-year-old has now won an astonishing nine Group 1 races in his career, including the 2024 Futurity Stakes, which he won by one and a half lengths.

This year’s margin was much smaller. Mr Brightside only managed to win by a nose in 2025. James Cummings’s Tom Kitten finished runner-up, while Peter Moody & Katherine Coleman’s I Wish I Win finished third, a head behind Mr Brightside.

Champion shows class

With Mr Brightside was the huge Futurity Stakes betting sites favourite. He ended up winning, but —as you can imagine from the margin of his victory– it was not an easy run for the seven-year-old.

Mr Brightside was second around the final turn. Then he quickly out-paced Chris Waller’s Private Life to take a two-length lead ahead of the pack around the 200m-mark.

That lead didn’t last long though as both Tom Kitten and I Wish I Win surged from the outside to close the gap. Had the race been 10 meters longer, either could have won.

In the end though, Mr Brightside was able to outlast the competition to pick up his second straight Futurity Stakes victory.

“So proud of him”

Ben Hayes –one third of Mr. Brightside’s Lindsay Park training team– spoke after the race about what he saw from his veteran thoroughbred.

“To see him win like that and just get in…It’s not good for the heart, but so proud of him,” Hayes said.

“It’s a long week but we’re just so passionate about this guy and we know he’s good enough and he’s shown it here and he’s the most important horse that we’ve ever been involved with.

“He’s one of Lindsay Park and its whole history’s best horses so we’re so lucky to have him.”

Mr Brightside is now the most-decorated horse in Lindsay Park’s history, breaking Better Loosen Up’s record of eight Group 1 wins.

Hayes compared the two horses, saying: “I think that (the record) just sums up how special he is. Better Loosen Up was a big part of our upbringing and to have a horse that’s not only held in the same sentence but arguably just gone past him is pretty special.”

Craig Williams echoed Haye’s sentiment.

“Credit to him, he does all the running,” said the winning jockey.

“The Hayes boys –Will, JD and Ben– and all the team behind, they present him to me on race days. I can have all these plans and ideas, but I have the confidence in the horse knowing (Mr Brightside) from all the way back to his third ever race start.

“They have developed him into the horse he is now. He does make my job really easy, but I just know every time I ride him, I have so many options.”

What’s next

After his Futurity Stakes win, Mr Brightside is set to run in the Group 1 All-Star Mile on March 8th. The seven-year-old won this race in 2023 before it was given Group 1 status earlier last year.

If all goes well in the All-Star Mile, the Lindsay Park team says that Mr Brightside will be going to Hong Kong for the Group 1 Champions Mile on April 27.