David Hayes has spoken of the similarities between his former champion Better Loosen Up and current Lindsay Park star Mr Brightside.

With David now training in Hong Kong, Mr Brightside is prepared by his sons Ben and Jd Hayes and will be racing for a Cox Plate ballot exemption when he lines up in the Group 2 Feehan Stakes (1600m) at Moonee Valley on Saturday.

Better Loosen Up won the Feehan Stakes in 1990 before going on to claim the Cox Plate (2040m) at The Valley later in the spring.

Like Better Loosen Up, Mr Brightside is a winner, having claimed eight victories in his 14 starts including the Group 1 Doncaster Handicap (1600m) at Randwick in the autumn.

Mr Brightside has since transferred that handicap form into a weight-for-age win in the P B Lawrence Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield when resuming last month.

Now Mr Brightside must raise the bar again on Saturday when he takes on the likes of Spanish Mission, Earlswood, Forgot You and Inspirational Girl.

The small field of only six runners makes for a tricky affair, but J D Hayes said the rain that fell earlier in the week and a soft track on Saturday certainly will not disadvantage Mr Brightside.

“A track getting into heavy range won’t scare us at all,” Hayes said.

“He’s ticked over beautifully at home and looks fantastic. We can’t be happier with how he’s done between runs, and we just hope that turns into a nice performance on Saturday.”

If successful on Saturday, Mr Brightside could be racing for a $4 million first prize purse in the Cox Plate.

But Hayes said the Cox Plate was not the be-all and end-all with the Caulfield Cup under consideration.

“We’re pretty much undecided at this stage but we’ll know more in the next four weeks after we talk to the team,” Hayes said.

“We’re just lucky that we have a horse in contention to be talking about those races.

“Months ago, we didn’t, so we’re just happy to be in this position.”