Lindsay Park galloper Mr Brightside will ramp up his program towards a first international foray with a jump-out at Flemington.
The Ben, Will and Jd Hayes-trained galloper is booked to have an 800m jump-out on Friday.
He will then have another jump-out, possibly on Friday week, before he departs for Hong Kong to contest the Champions Mile (1600m) at Sha Tin on April 27.
The Hayes brothers are looking forward to travelling Mr Brightside to Hong Kong and will have the right person in their father David Hayes to bounce any ideas off in the lead-up to the race.
Mr Brightside took out the Group 1 Futurity Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on February 22 and has not raced since finishing second to Tom Kitten in the Group 1 All-Star Mile (1600m) at Flemington on March 8.
With flights booked for Hong Kong, Ben Hayes said it was exciting to be heading overseas for the first time with Mr Brightside.
“It’s something we have always wanted to do,” Hayes said.
“With the prize money being so good in Australia and so many good opportunities here, with him winning nine Group 1’s and being placed in eight, the timing wasn’t right.
“But I think it’s a good year to be going.
“The absolute superstar Golden Sixty is not around anymore, Romantic Warrior is not going to run, and he would most likely have been in the 2000-metre race anyway.”
Hayes said there were no plans to look further abroad.
He said the timing of the Hong Kong meeting was perfect as it allowed plenty of time for a proper break afterwards.
With a spring program still to be finalised, the Group 1 King Charles III Stakes (1600m) at Randwick and the Group 1 Champions Mile (1600m) at Flemington are probable targets.
“The beauty with going to Hong Kong is we’ll have time to get him back, give him a break, and then target a spring campaign,” Hayes said.
“There are those great races like the King Charles and the mile race on final day at Flemington.
“The Carnival lingers on, so there’s lots more racing later on, but we’ll probably look to keep him at races up to a mile now as there’s so many options.
“It’s exciting.”
