Craig Williams’ fall hurts Mr. Brightside’s chances

Lindsay Park will have three runners in the running, with Gentleman Roy also starting from barrier 10.

“Three out of 15 is hopefully a good shot at getting one over the finish line,” Hayes said.

“It’s a huge event; $5 million on offer. It’s one of those races where you have to apply to take your horses. Luckily we have Gentleman Roy, Mr. Brightside and So Si Bon, all of whom have public followings for their own reasons.

“Mr Brightside himself is a very successful racehorse on the rise. Gentleman Roy wins the hearts of racers because he is just so tough and tough and makes every post a winner. And that’s how Si Bon has been walking since the dawn of time, and you’d want a whole stable full of him.”

Despite the last-minute jockey change, Hayes said Mr. Brightside was her number 1.

“Our best chance is probably Mr. Brightside. We’ve been waiting for him to draw a nice barrier and he has that here, so hopefully the stars align and he gets a good run in transit,” he said.

“We decided to outbid him for this race, that’s the race we came up with with the $5 million offered, so I think we got him in the race as best as we could have him. A bit of luck in transit would be nice and hopefully it can make us proud.”

Alligator Blood is expected to look for the lead from barrier seven, while I’m Thunderstruck pulled well into barrier five. Daniel Moor will ride I’m Thunderstruck and cover Jamie Kah who was also involved in Saturday’s fall.

Up to 18 horses took advantage of a last-minute opportunity to earn a spot in the All-Star Mile field, with So Si Bon finishing 19th on the provisional contingency list late last week.