Mr Brightside might be missing from the autumn weight‑for‑age spotlight, but Lindsay Park could still have a serious player emerging, with trainer Ben Hayes confident Evaporate is ready to step up as soon as Saturday.
“I haven’t spoken about him much, but he’s trailled up excellent and will be hopefully announcing himself this autumn,” Hayes said confidently.
“What has let him down is his racing manners. He’s always been a headstrong horse and doing things wrong but still ran well.
“When Jamie (Melham) rode him in his last jumpout (win at Werribee on February 6) he actually relaxed and he finished off and we have been really working on it in his trackwork.
“Jamie was really happy with him, and I think she’s keen to ride him (in the Futurity).”
Now an autumn four-year-old, Evaporate has long served his apprenticeship as an elite galloper. After finishing third in the 2024 Caulfield Guineas, he was thrown into the deep end in the Cox Plate two weeks later but he failed to adapt and did not beat a runner home.
He reappeared last autumn for a handful of runs – including a second placing in The Kiwi in New Zealand – before returning last spring for a number of impressive efforts when second in the Group 1 Toorak Handicap, third in the Golden Eagle and then third in the G1 Orr Stakes.
Evaporate may wind up as the main danger to the early favourite Treasurethe Moment in Saturday’s Futurity Stakes as the current second favourite Tom Kitten is not likely to run.
The Lindsay Park stable also have claims of taking Saturday’s G1 Oakleigh Plate (1100m) with Oak Hill.
“He’s going really well,” Hayes said. “Again, he’s a horse that was doing a lot wrong. He was an aggressive horse, and we saw last start he relaxed and he ran well so if he does that in an Oakleigh Plate, he’ll run very well.”