Lindsay Park has opted against utilising the All-Star Mile wildcard that Marble Arch secured at Flemington on Saturday, instead setting their sights on Sydney with the in-form mare.
The daughter of Per Incanto scored a maiden Group 2 win in the Blamey Stakes (1600m), a race that guaranteed her a place in this Saturday’s $2.5 million All-Star Mile at the same track, but Ben Hayes said that Group 1 event had come up a fraction too soon.
Hayes and his training partners, brothers Will and JD, instead hope to get her to Sydney for the following week’s $1 million Group 1 Coolmore Classic (1500m) at Rosehill.
“Marble Arch pulled up not quite 100 percent to back up, she’s absolutely fine, but she just felt the run a little bit,” Hayes said on Monday morning.
“It was a career peak performance and we’re probably looking to lean towards heading to Sydney and running in the Coolmore.
“The way she ran on Saturday she’d be very competitive in a Coolmore against the really good fillies and mares in Sydney.”
While Marble Arch will not be taking up her All-Star Mile ballot exemption, stablemate Rise At Dawn will use the one he earned via his win in the Listed The Elms at Flemington on February 15.
The Elms was the race Mr Brightside ran third in the year of his first All-Star Mile attempt in 2022, which realised a fourth placing, before going to win the next two Doncaster Miles and Hayes said this weekend’s race would determine whether Rise At Dawn could follow the same path.
“We were joking when he won last start that he was ‘Brightside 2.0′,” he said.
“Brightside ran fourth in an All-Star Mile then went on to win a Donny (Doncaster), at this stage he looks like sneaking into that race with a very light weight (51kg) so if he can get in with a weight like that it’d be exciting.
“It would not surprise me if he could finish in the top four, but we’ll be learning. He’s taking on the best and it will give us a good guide where he’s at.”
Mr Brightside heads Lindsay Park’s 2025 All-Star Mile charge, though, and will be lining up in his fourth All-Star Mile, having won the 2023 edition at Moonee Valley before a second placing to Pride Of Jenni last year at Caulfield.
The seven-year-old heads into the race off a C F Orr Stakes second and Futurity Stakes win, starting from wide barriers on each occasion, and Hayes’ one wish is for a softer gate.
“I’d love it if he was able to draw a barrier where he can take a sit, because I think he’s a horse better chasing, but he’s in great order and we can’t fault him.”
Mr Brightside is $2.80 favourite for the All-Star Mile from his Orr Stakes conqueror Another Wil ($4) and Futurity Stakes runner-up Tom Kitten ($5) with Rise At Dawn a $26 chance.
