Mr Brightside chases a fifth consecutive win this weekend stepping out as the odds-on favourite at Flemington in the 2023 Makybe Diva Stakes.

Mr Brightside is short favourite to keep the wins going in the 2023 Makybe Diva Stakes at Flemington this weekend. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos.

The Team Hayes-trained mile star was huge in the autumn going back-to-back in the All-Star Mile and Doncaster Mile before returning a first-up winner in the Group 2 P.B. Lawrence Stakes (1400m).

There he defeated subsequent Group 2 Feehan Stakes winner Pinstriped by nearly two lengths, form he further franked when enjoying an elite level Caulfield win a fortnight back in the Group 1 Memsie Stakes (1400m).

Both Sydney and Melbourne host million-dollar mile showdowns this weekend with the likes of Fangirl and Zaaki facing off in the inaugural $1 million 7 Stakes at Randwick.

At headquarters the Cox Plate-bound gallopers do battle in the Makybe Diva, and the money is on Mr Brightside to keep the wins coming from barrier two with Craig Williams continuing associations.

Current Makybe Diva Stakes odds at Ladbrokes have Mr Brightside at $1.90 and firming with the distance looking spot-on for the top elect three runs into his spring.

It is a small but quality field of seven in the mix and a further two are under double-figures to win with last year’s runner-up Alligator Blood ($4.20) for Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott and the Memsie Stakes runner-up Princess Grace ($4.50) from the Chris Waller stables.

Damien Oliver rides Alligator Blood from barrier four second-up with the multiple Group 1 winning son of All Too Hard looking to take his winnings up over the $6.3 million mark.

The Gator has a stellar strike-rate at Flemington (4:3-1-0) and was a devastatingly close second to I’m Thunderstruck second-up in last year’s race.

In 2022 he was seventh fresh in the Memsie Stakes and this year he comes off a fourth in the same lead-up to Mr Brightside when under a length beaten.

He has added three more Group 1s to his name in the 12 months since last year’s Makybe Diva, including beating Mr Brightside home in the autumn’s Futurity, and should get conditions to suit here in another likely close contest.

Waller’s American-bred import Princess Grace has been very good since arriving down under posting a Group 2 Sapphire Stakes third in her first Australian run before winning the Group 3 Hawkesbury Crown (1300m) back in April.

She has been tested with two Group 1 assignments this time in finishing second in both the Winx Stakes in Sydney and the Memsie with natural improvement expected here as she gets out to the 1600m.

Waller also saddles-up the rails-drawn Osipenko ($12) and his Melbourne Cup-bound stayer Francesco Guardi ($27) in the race.

Kiwi raider Aegon is at $21 third-up for Andrew Forsman, while the markets are rounded out by the Peter Moody & Katherine Coleman-trained eight-year-old Spanish Mission at $51 for his first run since finishing third to Mr Brightside in last year’s Feehan Stakes in September of 2022.

The Makybe Diva Stakes is scheduled to start at 3:40pm (AEST) as Flemington Race 7 on the 10-race Saturday card in Melbourne.

2023 Makybe Diva Stakes Field & Barriers

Table Credit: Racing Australia.