David Hayes with son and training partner Ben
It Pays To Follow Hayes
Some race horse trainers are really worth listening to - none more so than David Hayes. Hayes heads up the Lindsay Park racing stables at Euroa and trains in partnership with his nephew Tom Dabernig and Hayes’ son Ben. Hayes of course comes from a racing dynasty, but in no way lives in the shadow of his famous father C. S. Hayes. He’s taken all the opportunities afforded to him to become a top trainer in his own right.
Unlike some trainers who keep their cards close to their chests (Hello Mick Kent) and others who talk a lot but reveal little (Hello Gai), Hayes often gives listeners valuable insights into the winning chances of his horses in his pre race interviews.
For example, prior to the recent Lightning Stakes at Flemington Hayes made me sit up and take notice when he said that his outsider in the race Faatinah “Had worked as good as any horse he had seen at Lindsay Park in a long time”. Whoa - that was some statement! It reminded me of the veteran Flemington trackman who stated that Bart Cummings’ Saintly had put in the best work that he had ever seen - just prior to the horse winning the 1996 Melbourne Cup. Unfortunately, Faatinah never got to run in the Lightning Stakes, but had to be scratched at the barriers after a horse in an adjoining stall lashed out.
However, Faatinah came through the incident unscathed and the following Saturday lined up in the Oakleigh Plate at Caulfield. Prior to the Plate Hayes commented that missing the Lightning may be a blessing in disguise for the horse. With Hayes's words ringing in my ears I backed the galloper each way at odds of $51.00 the win and $11.00 the place. There was just one problem. When asked which of his twenty runners at Caulfield that day was the stable’s best winning prospect, Hayes singled out Sheidel - an $8.00 chance running in you guessed it - the Oakleigh Plate. The result? Sheidel and Faatinah cleared away from the rest of the field to run one - two in the race. The Quinella paid $111.30 and the Exacta $177.20 thankyou very much.
Not only had Hayes again proven that he was a good judge, but importantly also that he was willing to share his insights with interviewers and thereby punters. Prior to the Blue Diamond Stakes on the same day, Hayes outlined the reasons why he believed that Catchy was the pick of his six entrants and she duly saluted coming home with a whirlwind finish to win at odds of $4.80. I could give many other examples of Hayes steering punters onto winners in recent times.
The David Hayes -Tom Dabernig - Ben Hayes camp are one of the biggest and certainly one of the most in form stables in the country. For this reason getting a lead on their runners’ chances can prove invaluable for a punter. The Lindsay Park Racing web site includes a detailed video preview of the stable’s runners each weekend so it is well worth tuning into - especially if the stable spokesman is one David A. Hayes. You can check out Lindsay Park Racing's latest stable update here.
Aussieraces.com March 2017
