David Hayes - The Beginning 1990
Colin Hayes retired from training in 1990. Taking over where his dad left off, David Hayes launched his training career with a tirade of winners. He took Lindsay Park not only to further heights, but also to the world.
He was an instant success. At the helm of Lindsay Park for five years before leaving to train in Hong Kong, David won every Premiership in Melbourne and Adelaide. He was the first Australasian trainer to lead in 300 winners in a season, setting a Commonwealth record. He also set a world record of training six Group winners in one day at the one race meeting - Derby Day at Flemington in 1994.
He trained Jeune to win the Melbourne Cup for Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Then going to where no Australian trainer had been before, he took his Cox Plate winning champ, Better Loosen Up across international seas to conquer the richest race in the world at that time - The Japan Cup - one of the world’s most prestigious weight for age events.
David Hayes - Hong Kong 1996 - 2005
On the back of his outstanding achievements, David was issued the world coveted invitation to train in Hong Kong.
Arriving in 1996, he shot to the top of the trainers list. There he remained, winning two Hong Kong Premierships and ranking amongst the top four every season for the next 9 years, training 458 winners to earn HK$436,269,137 in prizemoney.
His versatility as a trainer saw him score wins in seven Gr 1 races from The Hong Kong Sprint to the Hong Kong Derby, The Stewards Cup and the Hong Kong Classic Mile. His achievements and popularity, personified a legacy and history in Hong Kong racing.
David Hayes – Comeback Season 2005-06
Returning to Australia in July 2005, David burst back into the scene with his first runner being his first winner. David Hayes was back!
Within a week he trained a stakes winner and then a Gr 1 winner - Barely A Moment – now a triple Gr 1 winner and standing at stud at Lindsay Park.
David enjoyed a spectacular comeback season to Australian racing. He trained six Group One winners and finished the season as Australia’s leading trainer by number of stakes winners (28 individual stakes winners of 36 races).
Aptly nicknamed “King of the Kids” David took out both Sydney and Melbourne’s premier 2yo Gr 1 events - STC Golden Slipper with Miss Finland and MRC Blue Diamond Stakes with Nadeem.
An exceptional trainer of two-year-olds, his juvenile juggernaut produced 46 individual winners of 61 races, including 15 individual 2yo stakeswinners of 19 races, clearly defining his dominance as Australia’s leading trainer of 2yos.
David Hayes is a proven Gr 1 trainer at every level in Australasia. His achievements encompass training two-year-old sprinters to Cups winning stayers, all to the elitist level in horse racing ie winning Gr 1 events.
David Hayes Group 1 Winners in Australian Training Career
60 Group 1 Winners in only 9 Full Seasons & Current Season in Australia (Including 3 international Gr 1 wins)
First Five Years in Australia (1/8/90 - 31/7/95)
30 Group 1 Winners
First Year Back in Australia (1/8/05 - 11/07/06)
6 Group 1 Winners
7th Season in Australia (1/8/06 – 31/7/07)
11 Group 1 Winners
(David Hayes trained in Hong Kong from 1995 until returning to Australia in 2005)
8th Season in Australia (1/8/07 - 31/7/08)
3 Gr 1 Winners
9th Season in Australia (1/8/08 - 31/7/09)
4 Gr 1 Winners
Current Season
3 Gr 1 Winners (as at 1 February 2010)
Major International Group 1 Wins (3)
- 1990 Japan Cup - Better Loosen Up
- 2002 Hong Kong International Sprint - All Thrills Too
- 2003 Hong Kong Derby - Elegant Fashion
For details on David's full career please click here