Written by Georgie Dennis
Thursday’s trials at Geelong saw a number of stars step out ahead of their respective autumn campaigns with Lindsay Park presenting several of their top hopes for feature races.
In the second heat of the morning, Tom Dabernig and Ben Hayes sent around G1 VRC Oaks winner Personal (Fastnet Rock) and Listed Twilight Glow S. winner Hindaam (NZ) (Savabeel), and while both fillies finished a good margin behind the winner, Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr’s exciting filly Pinkham (Written Tycoon), Hayes was pleased with their performances.
“It was an even trial. She (Personal) probably just looked a bit dour being her first trial. She’s never been one to really impress in her trials so I’m not worried at all,” said Ben Hayes.
“The kick-off with her is on February 13 in The Vanity, so we’ve got a little bit more time to go with her. She’ll have another good couple of hitouts and she might just find that on the short side, but I was happy enough.
“I wasn’t actually there, Tom (Dabernig) was there, but he was happy enough with her recovery and we’re not too worried.
“We’ll probably target the Australian Guineas after The Vanity and then we’ll go to Sydney and look at races like the Vinery and the Australian Oaks.”
Watch: Personal and Hindaam (NZ) trial
Hindaam finished 1.7l ahead of Personal in the 1000 metre heat for 3-year-old fillies and Hayes said he was happy with her performance ahead of her launch point in the G3 Kevin Hayes S.
“It was her first hitout as well but I thought she settled nicely at the rear of the field,” he said.
“It was a really strung-out trial and there was a tear-away leader that won quite impressively so it probably didn’t flatter her, but I was really impressed with the way she went through her gears.
“She hit the line to finish fourth and really had a good blow so she seems to be ticking along really nicely and will kick-off in the Kevin Hayes.”
Crosshaven (Smart Missile) was one of the stars of last spring having posted wins in the Listed Exford Plate, G3 Caulfield Guineas Prelude and G3 Carbine Club S., as well as finishing fourth in the G1 Caulfield Guineas, and he has his sights set on breaking his Group 1 duck this autumn after winning his 1000 metre trial.
Watch: Crosshaven trial
“He’s ticking along really nicely,” Hayes said of Crosshaven. “He has never been an impressive trialler, he only does what he has to to win, but I thought it was a good effort today.
“He responds under riding and just keeps kicking as a tough horse. It looks like he’s strengthened and has come back really well off his first trial today.
“We’re toying with the idea of kicking off in the CF Orr. We just feel that the 1400 metres first-up, and the tempo will suit him better, he’ll be able to travel a bit better in the run.
“He might just find the 1200 on the shorter side so the plan at the moment is to kick-off in the Orr.”
“He (Crosshaven) might just find the 1200 on the shorter side so the plan at the moment is to kick-off in the Orr.” - Ben Hayes
While the Lindsay Park team has plenty of talented 3-year-olds to be excited about, Hayes believes that stable stalwarts, Fifty Stars (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) and Harlem (GB) (Champs Elysees {GB}) are also in for big autumn campaigns.
Harlem and Fifty Stars have won three G1 Australian Cups between them and Hayes said they are both on a path to that race this year. Neither horse found the winner’s stall in the spring, however, they both put in some solid performances, with Fifty Stars being narrowly beaten in the G1 Mackinnon S.
“The ultimate goal is to defend his title and win the Australian Cup again, but we’re really happy with him,” Hayes said of Fifty Stars. “Going into the spring, he had a very short program as he was coming off an injury so this prep he is a lot fitter and a lot more forward than he was last time and I was really pleased with the trial.
“He messed up the start, settled at the rear of the field and got held up in the straight and when he got clear air, he finished off strongly.
“He told us today he is right on track and he’ll probably look at kicking off in the Orr as well.”
While Harlem is also targeting the Australian, he will get there via a different path to Fifty Stars and will kick off in the G3 Carlyon Cup.
“This is his time of year,” Hayes said. “I thought last prep, although he didn’t win, he raced very consistently throughout the whole spring. He was very unlucky in the Ballarat Cup, he could have arguably gone closer, but in his trial today he wasn’t asked to do much.
“We were easy on him and he really came through it well, he had a good blow and he’ll probably look at kicking off in the Carlyon Cup on February 6, and he’ll follow the path he has for the last couple of years into the Peter Young and then the Australian Cup.”
