Cover image courtesy of Bronwen Healy
Written by Bren O'Brien
It wasn't quite the perfect start that JD Hayes might have hoped for in his new partnership with brother Ben Hayes, but the new era of Lindsay Park began at Wangaratta on Monday, where both Hayes runners put in strong performances.
JD, 26, the younger brother of Ben, 31, and son of Hall of Fame trainer David, has assumed a role in the partnership from his cousin Tom Dabernig, who has departed to start his own training operation at Warrnambool.
JD Hayes | Image courtesy of Trish Dunell
The uniting of the brothers in partnership is the next step of the Lindsay Park story, which began with their grandfather Colin Hayes, who commenced training in 1947 and founded Lindsay Park in the Barossa Valley in 1965.
His work was continued by David Hayes, who took over in 1990, before his late brother Peter and then Tony McEvoy guided the operation until David's return from Hong Kong in 2005.
David then partnered with Dabernig from 2014 until the end of the 2015/2016 season, when Ben Hayes joined the operation as one of three head trainers.
Tom Dabernig, Ben Hayes and David Hayes | Image courtesy of Bronwen Healy
David Hayes departed for Hong Kong again 12 months ago, leaving Dabernig and Ben Hayes in charge before it was announced in March that JD, who has worked with Lindsay Park for some time, would step up with Dabernig deciding to leave.
It has taken a couple of months for the changeover to take effect, but Ben and JD had their first runners under their name at Wangaratta on Monday, with Finance Choice (Extreme Choice) and Lunatic Fringe (Fiorente {Ire}) both engaged.
Speaking ahead of the meeting, JD Hayes told Racing.com that it was a familiar feeling, despite the extra responsibilities.
"I'm definitely feeling a little bit nervous, as you would," he said. "But I went to work this morning, and everything is much the same with the great staff and great facilities that we have. It feels the same."
"I went to work this morning, and everything is much the same with the great staff and great facilities that we have. It feels the same." - JD Hayes
The well-supported favourite in the opening race, Finance Choice, missed the start by several lengths before rallying to finish fourth, 3.75l from the Dan McCarthy-trained winner Mattash (Reward For Effort).
Later on the program, in the Muddy Waters Café BM58 H., Lunatic Fringe surged late under Michael Dee, but fell just 0.1l short of grabbing the winner, Red Impulse (Redente), on the line.
The Hayes brothers have two horses engaged at Pakenham on Tuesday and a host of nominations for races later in the week as they look to secure their first winner together.
The pair have quite the record to emulate, with their grandfather having won 13 Melbourne Trainers' Premierships, with over 5000 winners and 524 stakes winners, while their father has prepared over 400 winners, including 95 at Group 1 level. Both are in the Hall of Fame.
David Hayes and Tom Dabernig won four Group 1 races in partnership, while the trio of Ben, David and Tom Dabernig combined for 14 elite-level successes.
In their 11-month partnership in their own right, Ben Hayes and Dabernig won 13 stakes races, including the G1 VRC Oaks with Personal (Fastnet Rock).
