Hall of Fame trainer David Hayes confirmed up to 90 per cent of his showpiece property Lindsay Park was lost along with seven horses in the “horrific” Longwood bushfire.

Hayes dashed back from Hong Kong to help his sons Ben, JD and Will battle the blaze that started on Thursday but worsened on Friday as high winds and hot temperatures provided the perfect scenario for the fire to spread rapidly.

Hayes told SEN Track Lindsay Park’s irrigated paddocks saved the majority of the property’s buildings while the property’s training tracks also provided a vital barrier to the fire.

“We lost probably 90 per cent of our land,” Hayes said.

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“Ben’s house and a barn (were lost) but the majority of the infrastructure was inside the protected zone which was the irrigated paddocks.

“It protected the main house and the main buildings and stables. The tracks didn’t burn and they acted as fire breaks.

“The Friday night, when the fire had passed (was the worst) but the spotfires were everywhere.”

Sadly for the Hayes family and owners, Lindsay Park reported seven of the 327 horses on the farm were lost in the fire.

But Hayes said the animals amazed him with their instincts in the stressful situation.

A huge bushfire hit the Lindsay Park property late on Friday as the flames destroyed thousands of acres near Longwood in central Victoria. Picture: AFP PHOTO/CFA Wandong Fire Brigade/Kylie Shingles.

“Horses get in trouble easily when everything is perfect. They have survival skills that people underrate,” he said.

“We would catch a horse with me driving behind giving them light. We then got them to safe zones.

“One horse with a collar and then the others would follow. I haven’t seen horses do that before.”

Hayes said the damage to the property on which he spent millions of dollars and years developing left him “shattered”, conceding he was concerned at times the fire would engulf the whole of Lindsay Park.

READ: Bushfire claims lives of seven thoroughbreds at Lindsay Park

“We hadn’t slept for two-and-a-half days fighting spot fires,” he said.

“The place had to be evacuated of staff and horses but it got very difficult. All the roads got closed. We were there on our own.

“Fires are horrific but when 90km winds come in at 45 degrees, it’s like a hurricane without rain and you don’t want to be in them. It was horrible.

“A few spot fires got into the protected area. In the end, the embers ignite somewhere else and somewhere else and you have to buckle down.”