Mr Brightside kicks off World Pool’s spring action in style

World Pool

19/09/2024

First three races of the new Australian season crack the HKD$100 million mark

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  Mr Brightside runs down Pride Of Jenni to win the Group 1 Makybe Diva Stakes at Flemington. (Credit: Vince Caligiuri)

Thursday 19th September 2024 – The first World Pool action of the Australian spring saw a strong start to the new season down under with more than HKD$101 million (AUD$19.2 million) wagered across three races on Makybe Diva Stakes Day at Flemington.

Two of Australia’s best horses, Mr Brightside and Pride Of Jenni, fought out the finish to the featured G1 Makybe Diva Stakes (1600m) as they gear up for the G1 Cox Plate (2040m) at Moonee Valley next month.

It was the Ben, Will and JD Hayes-prepared Mr Brightside – runner-up to Romantic Warrior in last year’s Cox Plate – who took the prize, becoming the first horse since the globetrotting Sailor’s Guide in 1956 and 1957 to go back-to-back in the Makybe Diva.

The G2 Let’s Elope Stakes (1400m) went to Danny O’Brien’s Grinzinger Belle while the G2 HKJC World Pool Bobbie Lewis Quality (1200m) was taken by the Hayes-trained Arkansaw Kid. Both had previously been placed in World Pool races before.

Melbourne is renowned as a city that offers “four seasons in one day” and so it proved across just an hour and a half during the World Pool coverage as the weather moved from hail to rain and then cloudless sunshine.

Win, Place, Quinella, Quinella Place (Duet) and Tierce (Trifecta) bet types were offered with the five pools combined yielding HKD$101.2 million across the three races.

The Flemington treble led into Irish Champion Stakes Day at Leopardstown, with Tom Marquand riding a Group 1 double on Economics in the Irish Champion Stakes (2000m) and Porta Fortuna in the Matron Stakes (1600m).

Upcoming World Pool events in the next three months: 

October
Saturday 19: King Charles III Stakes Day – Randwick Racecourse (P)
Saturday 19: Caulfield Cup – Caulfield Racecourse (S)
Saturday 19: British Champions Day – Ascot Racecourse (F)

November
Saturday 2: Victoria Derby Day – Flemington Racecourse (F)
Sunday 10: Grosser Preis von Bayern Day – Munich Racecourse (P)

December
Sunday 15: Gran Premio Carlos Pellegrini – San Isidro Racecourse (S)

   *F: Full meeting - World Pool coverage on all races in the relevant meeting
     P: Part meeting - World Pool coverage only on selected races in the relevant meeting
     S: Single race - World Pool coverage only on this race in the relevant meeting