If Huntly Castle can win at Flemington on Saturday, it would provide a fairytale result for Lindsay Park.
The Ben and Jd Hayes-trained last start winner runs in the Gary Fennessy Handicap (1800m), named after Lindsay Park’s longest serving member.
Fennessy has been a stalwart of the Lindsay Park operation joining the stable when Ben and JD’s grand-father Colin Hayes was at the helm and their father David, now in Hong Kong, was a three-year-old.
“It’s a big honour for Gary to have a race named after him,” Ben Hayes said.
“I haven’t spoken to him yet, but I’m sure he will be flattered, and it would be nice if we could win the race named after him.
“Gary’s been with the stable since dad was about three years old, something 56 years, and he’s now into his third generation of Hayes at Lindsay Park.”
Huntly Castle is aiming for back-to-back wins and the third of the preparation having taken out the Traralgon Cup (1900m) on November 28 at his last start.
“The owners Peter Devitt and the Gordon family, they’ve been big supporters of ours over a long period, so it was a nice win, and it was good to see him winning again,” Hayes said.
“We’ve always liked him. He ran in a Derby as a three-year-old and then lost his way a bit.
“Last preparation he got back to form and went through his grades, and he continued that with his first-up win at Cranbourne which surprised us a little.
“We ran him in some harder races during the Carnival. He ran well without winning and the Traralgon Cup was a nice win.”
Hayes said the stable was hoping to target the summer Country Cups circuit with Huntly Castle and maybe head back to Albury in March for another attempt at that Cup.
“It’s still a long way off, but that is something we’ll keep in mind,” Hayes said.
“He’s an honest horse and a really nice horse to have around the stable.”
