Australia: If Mr Brightside finishes first, it will be a first

The ultra-consistent gelding Mr Brightside will be the odds-on favorite to become the first horse to win consecutive runnings of the All-Star Mile at Caulfield Racecourse in Melbourne, Australia, on Friday evening.

Mr Brightside, a winner of 16 of 31 starts, won the 2023 All-Star Mile when the race was run at Moonee Valley in Melbourne and had a purse of $3.32 million.

This year’s race is worth slightly less, at $2.46 million, and has drawn a strong field of 12. The field is partially determined by runners who qualified by winning major stakes at tracks in the Australian state of Victoria or New Zealand from mid-November to earlier this month.

Mr Brightside won two of the automatic qualifiers in stakes at seven furlongs in consecutive starts in February, solidifying his already lofty status as the favorite. As of Thursday, Mr Brightside was 4-5.

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The race was launched in 2019 and has had five different winners. The venue shifts annually among tracks in Melbourne, including Flemington.

The 6-year-old mare Pride of Jenni is the last runner to beat Mr Brightside, when they were first and second by 1 1/4 lengths in the Group 1 Cantala Stakes at a mile at Flemington Racecourse last November.

Pride of Jenni was 5-2 in early betting for the All-Star Mile, her second start of 2024. She was second by a short head to Mr Brightside in the Group 1 C.F. Orr Stakes at seven furlongs at Caulfield on Feb. 10 after setting the early pace.

Coolmore Classic

The leading race for fillies and mares in Australia this weekend is Friday evening’s Group 1 Coolmore Classic at 7 1/2 furlongs at Rosehill Gardens.

Zougotcha, ninth behind Mr Brightside in the Group 1 Doncaster Mile last April, will be favored in a field of 18 on the strength of her fifth group stakes win in the Group 2 Millie Fox Stakes at seven furlongs at Rosehill Gardens on Feb. 24 in her 2024 debut.

Zougotcha, who races as a stalker, has a talented rival to catch in expected pacesetter Tropical Squall, who led throughout the Group 1 Surround Stakes for Southern Hemisphere 3-year-old fillies at seven furlongs on March 2.

A winner of 4 of 7 starts, Tropical Squall was 6-1 in early betting on Thursday behind 3-1 Zougotcha. The $658,000 Coolmore Classic will be Tropical Squall’s first start against older fillies and mares in a group stakes.

The Coolmore Classic is part of a 10-race program at Rosehill Gardens that begins at 9:30 p.m. Eastern or 6:30 p.m. Pacific. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.

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