MR. BRIGHTSIDE

[Irish]

What a top win.  Not doing too badIy for an 8 yr oId is he.?? God bIess him 

[scooby3051]

Mr Brightside all the way in Makybe Diva Stakes

Mr Brightside won a third Makybe Diva Stakes at Flemington on Saturday. Photo: Reg Ryan/Getty Images.

 

By Racenet
06:36pm • 13 September 2025 

A perfectly judged ride delivered Mr Brightside to his third straight win in the $750,000 Group 1 Makybe Diva Stakes at Flemington on Saturday.

Regular jockey Craig Williams sent the local champ straight to the front in the 1600m weight-for-age feature and from there, Mr Brightside dictated terms to suit himself, stacking them up before kicking away in the early part of the straight.

Mr Brightside went to the line full of running to defeat Aeliana with the favourite Via Sistina finishing a somewhat disappointing third.

 

The win was Mr Brightside's 20th from 46 starts, his 10th at Group 1 level and took his career earnings to more than $17.9 million.

The eight-year-old gelding by Bullbars is trained by Ben, Will and JD Hayes.

[scooby3051]

Super win by a very much under rated star....he never ages.

[Insider]

It's interesting how well some oldish horses are performing at an elite level these days 7, 8 and 9 years, as compared to 20 or 30 years ago. 

This statement is made without any scientific proof and simply the opinion of Liz.  

[sunlineboy]

Terrible race in terms of pace. 30 lengths outside the track record, but you only have the jockeys in behind to blame.

[TurnyTom]

Agree SLB, totally gifted to Willo

[Insider]

Based on what the 1400's were run in [1.22.98, 1.22.09 & 1.22.86] the Makybe Diva should have been run in 1.34.44 or better.

At 1.38.35 it was as SLB said, gifted to the winner, not that I am decrying Mr Brightside.

A difference of 3.91 seconds, nearly 4.00 seconds is a long way!

Taking the above information into account, it will be a very different result next time, unless the jockey's get mesmerised once again. 

[TurnyTom]

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/173GfN4DoX/?mibextid=wwXIfr
 

Great watch, perfectly addressed

[chiknsmack]

5 hours ago, TurnyTom said:

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/173GfN4DoX/?mibextid=wwXIfr
 

Great watch, perfectly addressed

You can't expect the NSW channel to have anything good to say about Melbourne racing. And "it's not Group 1 racing" is some comment with what their local PRA is doing to the pattern.

The pattern in Oz is munted, and Gr.1s should be grand finals (which the Makybe Diva is not; there were maybe two horses that were remotely interested in winning and even they have bigger fish to fry down the line) rather than just races that good horses run in (the same can be said of the Winx Stakes). The race was farcically-run, so they're right, but their comments should be taken with a grain of salt.

The big mistake (apart from anyone who backed a 2000m horse who has a 2000m grand final in a few weeks and ended up in this race through a late change of plans) came from anyone who has a borderline Gr. 1 miler, particularly an entire. Imagine a horse with the profile of Savaglee walking them along and dashing away to win, then being able to have ads when he goes to stud of him leaving "the winners of twenty-five Group 1 races" or whatever in the dust. Any not-quite-elite miler who DID treat the race as their grand final could've claimed some notable scalps.

[TurnyTom]

Prefer their professional comments over bouncy castles and the diet of inane drivel we have to put up with on the local circus

Each to their own, but it did indeed present as a barrier trial. Agree the NSW VIC fight is a nonsense but it ain’t ending any time soon which has two sides to the coin