BIG GUNS READY TO FIRE IN THE MEMSIE STAKES

By Graham Potter | Wednesday, August 30, 2023

What a lift-off we will have for Group 1 Spring racing when the Memsie Stakes takes centre stage at Caulfield on Saturday.

I Wish I Win and Mr Brightside, the two runners vying for favouritism, have come up with opposite ends of the barrier draw (I Wish I Win with number 1 and Mr Brightside at 15), yet such was the brilliance of Mr Brightside in his last start win which is still fresh in the memory, the Team Hayes trained runner still currently edges his main rival in the betting, $3.40 to $3.80.

Both are obviously well worth the place on the betting boards, but lurking in the waters just behind them is a horse that many will be watching very closely.

For all of the trials and tribulations, injuries and bans (through no fault of his own), that Alligator Blood has gone through, his form has been quite extraordinary, particularly after his return from delicate kissing spine surgery and when moved to the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott stable.

He won the Group 1 Stradbroke in his second start for his new stable, beating Private Eye and Rothfire. Three races later Alligator Blood won the Group 1 Underwood, beating Mo’unga and Zaaki. Two races later he finished fifth behind Anamoe in the Cox Plate, after which he came out and won the Group 1 Cantala Stakes ... a race in which he beat Mr Brightside by 1.25 lengths at level weights.

Next Alligator Blood made it back-to-back Group 1 wins when taking out the Group 1 Futurity Stakes, again beating Mr Brightside home by the same 1.25 length margin as before.

Mr Brightside did get his revenge in the big one, the $5 million All Star Mile ... which he won, with Alligator Blood filling fourth place, with that seemingly standard 1.25 length between them there representing a 2.50 length turnaround on the day in favour of Mr Brightside.

The pair met again in the Group 1 Doncaster in which Mr Brightside scored a dominant win and Alligator Blood trailed in 13.25 lengths off the action.

That result was too bad to be true for Alligator Blood suggesting you could draw a line through that performance. The relevant part of the stewards’ report for the race states: ‘T. Clark reported that his mount was not comfortable on the heavy racing surface, and this accounted for the gelding’s disappointing performance. ‘

Whatever Alligator Blood’s misfortunes were there, the undeniable fact was that the two wins of Mr Brightside had announced a sparkling new star on the scene ... and his performance since then, when resuming with an outstanding win two weeks ago in his first run since the Doncaster, only added to his now already formidable and still blossoming reputation.

So, Mr Brightside will take the benefit of having had one run back over Alligator Blood when they meet on Saturday ... whereas Alligator Blood will have only had two trials going in Memsie, but, of note, is that he did win both of those trials, suggesting he should be right up to the mark for the assignment.

And waiting to ambush both of them is I Wish I Win, the winner of the $10 million Golden Eagle winner and the winner of the Group 1 TJ Smith (when beating Giga Kick, no less), who has yet to clash with either Mr Brightside or Alligator Blood.

Like Alligator Blood, I Wish I Win too will be first-up since April 1. He has not had an official trail, arguably bringing a slightly intriguing unknown factor into play.

This is mouth-watering stuff.