Mr Brightside, Craig Williams win Champions Mile at Flemington

Some of Australia’s best gallopers lined up at Flemington for the Group 1 Champions Mile (1600m) on Saturday. Mr Brightside bested them all.

The seven-year-old star lived up to the pre-race betting sites expectations and delivered a sterling run, beating out Tony Gollan’s Antino by a little under half a length.

Unfortunately, the race favourite Pride Of Jenni was retired after the race after suffering a bleed during the $3 million spectacle.

“Special horse” wins big race

Mr Brightside’s big win on Saturday was the eighth Group 1 victory in his career. After the race, one of his trainers from the team at Lindsay Park, Ben Hayes, looked back on the gelding’s accomplishments so far.

“He’s such a special horse to us,” Ben Hayes said.

“I was hoping he could get that gap, and he got it, and he was so strong through the line.”

Will Hayes, also of the Lindsay team, called Mr Brightside the training firm’s star.

“He really is our flag bearer,” Will Hayes said, “We owe this horse everything. He started our momentum as a stable and really generated a lot of hype for us and the way he raced today, it was heart-in-your- mouth stuff.”

“Craig rode him terrifically,” Hayes added.

The Craig he was talking about, jockey Craig Williams, echoed Lindsay Park’s sentiment about Mr Brightside.

“The grand final was the Cox Plate,” Williams said.

“He ran fourth but ran a phenomenal race. They’ve come here today for the Champions Mile, with all these horses, they’ve gone for blinkers for the first time and he was the right product today,” he added.

Blinkers pay off

One of the biggest storylines heading into the Champions Mile that our horse racing betting experts were watching was that Lindsay Park had decided to use blinkers on Mr Brightside for this race.

The gelding had never worn blinkers in his career before Saturday. It was a risky move to make in a $3 million race like the Champions Mile.

Will Hayes even admitted it was a gamble, saying “We took a risk and put the blinkers on.”

As it turns out, the risk was one undoubtedly worth taking.

Rival retired

As joyous of a day as it was for Mr Brightside, Craig Williams, and the Lindsay Park team, it was a bit of a bittersweet one for Australian racing.

Trainer Ciaron Maher announced after the race that 2023/24 Australian Racehorse of the Year Pride Of Jenni will retire from racing.

The three-time Group 1 winner suffered a bleed during the race and was unable to finish competitively.

Pride Of Jenni will now enjoy life as a retired horse at Tony Ottobre’s stable, where she will be potentially bred with the owners’ top stallion Equinox.