Declan Bates and Craig Williams have box seats in Pride Of Jenni v Mr Brightside rivalry
The rivalry between Pride Of Jenni and Mr Brightside is enticing new fans to racing, and the superstars clash for the first time this spring in the Memsie Stakes on their way towards the Cox Plate.
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The best seats in a great modern racing rivalry belong to Declan Bates and Craig Williams.
Pride Of Jenni has scoreboard pressure on Mr Brightside, but neither is infallible.
Hostilities are renewed on Saturday in the Group 1 Memsie Stakes at Caulfield, an entree to a tantalising spring duel that leads to the Cox Plate on October 26.
Do they go head-to-head throughout or dodge each other until the grand final?
It starts Saturday either way.
Let them entertain us.
Rivalries do more than excite and enthral the core, they entice new fans to racing.
It’s a point not lost on Williams, the champion jockey, racing ambassador and rider of Mr Brightside.
“We’re here to entertain,” Williams said.
“There’s nothing better to bring people to racecourses than great competition, great horses, great training performances, great rides and great rivalries.
“Luckily for me, you look at Mr Brightside’s record and it shows you on his day he’s arguably the best miler, 10-furlong horse (2000m) in Australia.
“Then you have the element of now, the rivalry with Pride Of Jenni, and you see her amazing performances and his, it’s a great intrigue every time.
“My job is to make sure we’re beating her home and every other one of our opposition.”
Mr Brightside replaced Alligator Blood last year as Australia’s weight-for-age middle-distance king only for bold frontrunner Pride Of Jenni, with her lung-bursting style, to challenge the throne.
Pride Of Jenni, trained by Ciaron Maher, drew first blood with an all-the-way victory in the Champions Mile last November, her second Group 1 triumph in eight days at Flemington.
Mr Brightside squared the ledger last February with a come-from-behind win in the Group 1 CF Orr Stakes before Pride Of Jenni went ahead again with victory the All-Star Mile in March.
Neither prevailed in the Australian Cup, as Cascadian pipped Pride Of Jenni in the shadows of the winning post and Mr Brightside finished fifth.
Pride Of Jenni extended her lead, three to one, over Mr Brightside with a most audacious seven-length romp in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Randwick.
“I don’t know what the ledger is, but every time I get beaten I’m not happy,” Williams said.
“One is always too many, but take nothing away from her, she’s a phenomenal racehorse.
“Her rating, her performance, she leaves nothing in the locker because she does all the running, there’s not too much bad luck she can have, she’s so dominant in her races.
“That’s her strength … and her rider Declan Bates has got such a phenomenal feel and touch with her and gets the best out of her.
“I’ve been on the receiving end of one of her great days on the racetrack and her great days are hard for a lot of other horses (to match) because of how bold and gallant she is.”
Jockeys dream about riding horses like Mr Brightside and Pride Of Jenni, multiple Group 1 winners and the benchmarks of their generation.
Bates has appreciated every moment.
“I try not to let the hype, hype me up too much,” Bates said.
“I just focus on treating it like any other race but reflecting on it has been fantastic, that rivalry.
“Mr Brightside has been a brilliant horse through the years and the last couple of preps we’ve been on similar paths, so we’ve bumped into each other quite a bit.
“It’s great for racing, I feel like it’s helped to draw crowds in, that’s for sure, certainly I’ve had many people come up to me and say how great it’s been, I feel like it’s good for racing.”
Bates’s wife Jennifer, a school teacher, has also been thrust into the Pride Of Jenni fanfare.
“She doesn’t hear the end of it, to be honest,” Bates laughed.
“All the other teachers and that, it’s been a bit of a whirlwind but we’re enjoying the ride, at the same time I try to keep pretty level headed about it all, focus on the job.”
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MR BRIGHTSIDE
7YO gelding
Trainers: Ben, JD and Will Hayes
Record: 34: 16-6-3
Prizemoney: $13.47m
Major wins: Doncaster Mile (2022-23), All-Star Mile (2023), Memsie Stakes (2023), Makybe Diva Stakes (2023), CF Orr Stakes (2024) and Futurity Stakes (2024).
PRIDE OF JENNI
7YO mare
Trainer: Ciaron Maher
Record: 29: 7-7-3
Prizemoney: $8.65m
Major wins: Empire Rose Stakes (2023), Champions Mile (2023), All-Star Mile (2024) and Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2024)
HEAD-TO-HEAD
Five starts: Pride Of Jenni leads Mr Brightside 3-1 in wins.
Originally published as Declan Bates and Craig Williams have box seats in Pride Of Jenni v Mr Brightside rivalry
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