The Lindsay Park team of Ben, Will and J D Hayes has two excellent chances of breaking a long running hoodoo in one of Australia’s biggest races.
Stretching back to ‘the boys’ grandfather Colin Hayes, their father David Hayes, uncle Peter Hayes and in his stint at the helm of Lindsay Park, Tony McEvoy, the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) at Eagle Farm has eluded the stable.
But this year War Machine and stablemate Rise At Dawn will be out to put Hayes name on the record as being successful in the Stradbroke Handicap.
The Hayes brothers had their first runner in last year’s contest with Here To Shock finishing down the order but go into this year’s race full of confidence.
“We had our first runner last year and he didn’t go us well as we had hoped, but this year we’ve got the best hand that we’ve ever had and hopefully with a couple of nice draws, we should get every chance,” Ben Hayes said.
A former member of the Mike Moroney and Glen Thompson stable, War Machine will be having his third start since transferring into the care of Lindsay Park.
After winning at Caulfield on May 10, War Machine then took out the Group 3 BRC Sprint (1350m) at Doomben on May 24.
Hayes said he and his brothers were fortunate to be given the opportunity to train War Machine.
“We got approached by Rupert (Legh) and everyone involved, and it was an offer you couldn’t say no to,” Hayes said.
“Mike was a very good trainer, and he had lots of Group 1 success. He had a lot of nice horses and we’re benefitting from that, and we’ll do our best to get a result for him.”
Hayes said War Machine had a gallop on the course proper at Eagle Farm on Tuesday and enjoyed working on top of the ground.
“He’s done everything right and he looks fantastic, so we’ve just got to wrap him in cotton wool to get him to the big day,” Hayes said.
Rise At Dawn is on the quick back-up after finishing fifth in the Group 1 Kingsford Smith Cup (1300m) at Eagle Farm last Saturday.
Rise At Dawn drops from weight-for-age 59kg in that race to 52.5kg under the handicap conditions on Saturday.
While it is not Lindsay Park’s usual practice to back-up their horses up so quickly, Hayes said Rise At Dawn had taken no ill-effect from last week’s outing.
“I think you can look back to his autumn carnival when he ran in the All-Star Mile,” Hayes said.
“He got beaten four lengths there and then he ran fourth in a Doncaster and got beaten just under half-a-length.
“From weight-for-age last week to a handicap it’s a big difference, and he gets a big drop in the weights with 52-½ kilos.
“He’s come through his run in good order and we’re confident he can run really well.
“We haven’t backed him up before, so we’re learning, but he’s definitely a danger, not only to War Machine, but all the others in the race.”
