Lindsay Park used Saturday’s Caulfield meeting to bolster its Queensland Carnival team with two of its three winners all-but locking in a trip north.
The Ben, Will and JD Hayes operation was the dominant stable on the day, winning with Madiyya, Angry Skies and War Machine.
The latter, who was formerly trained by Mike Moroney and Glen Thompson, will now be given his shot securing a spot in June’s Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap after atoning for a luckless first-up second placing at Mornington with a dominant win over 1400m.
“We’re just so fortunate to be given this horse to train and he’s been a pleasure,” Ben Hayes said.
“He’s been in the system nearly two weeks now and arrived to us in good condition.
“He’s an exciting horse heading up to Queensland now, we’ll look to run in the BRC Sprint in two weeks’ time and hopefully he can get qualified to run in the Stradbroke.”
War Machine benefitted from a positive Jamie Mott ride to score a 1-1/4-length win over Jimmy The Bear ($26), who edged out leader Oscar’s Fortune ($14) in the fast-class race of the day.
Earlier, classy three-year-old stablemate Madiyya made it back-to-back wins at just her third start when she scored an impressive win over 1400m in benchmark 70 fillies grade under Luke Currie.
The Super Seth filly’s ticket north is not yet booked, but she will be given every chance to make the trip.
“There’s a race call the Fred Best (Classic), which is 1400, then a couple of weeks later there’s a mile, but she’s talented and the first thing we’re going to be guided by is how she pulls up,” Will Hayes said.
Madiyya is out of Ruqqaya, which makes her a half-sister to two-time Group 1 winner Grunt and Group 2 winner Zayydani, who also raced for Lindsay Park under the Trelawney Park Stud colours.
Madiyya won as $2.05 favourite with online betting sites, while War Machina was $1.90, but Lindsay Park’s other winner was nowhere near as fancied with Angry Skies saluting at $41 in the 1600m benchmark 84 event.
It was the second-straight win for the five-year-old son of Toronado, who was coming off victory in the Warracknabeal Cup.
