\n\t\t\t\t\tBy Trevor Marshallsea\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Listen<\/p>\n
The Hayes Brothers are set to take a major step towards converting a bumper juvenile season into a rich three-year-old campaign as they unveil three exciting second\u2013season runners at Caulfield on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Lindsay Park were one of the most successful stables in the country on all fronts last term, celebrating 253.5 wins, up from 199 in 2023-24 and the third most in the country after Ciaron Maher (329.5) and Chris Waller (273).<\/p>\n
But it was with the babies that they enjoyed particularly eye-catching success, with no fewer than 20 individual two-year-old winners ringing in 31 race victories, including a nation-leading eight at stakes level.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got a really good bunch of three-year-olds coming through,\u201d Ben Hayes told ANZ News. \u201cWe had a good two-year-old year, and that normally converts into the three-year-old year so, fingers crossed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Three of those stakes winners will be in action on Saturday, two of whom are resuming.<\/p>\n
The unbeaten Scenic Point (Written Tycoon) starts first-up as one of the favourites in the three-year-old fillies\u2019 feature at Caulfield, the Quezette Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m).<\/p>\n
One race earlier, Ben, JD and Will Hayes will saddle two of the favourites for the males\u2019 Vain Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m), with Shining Smile (Spirit Of Boom) seeking his sixth straight win second-up from a spell, and Blue Diamond Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) third-placegetter Tycoon Star (Written Tycoon) resuming.<\/p>\n
At least two of the trio, and maybe all three, could be headed for a clash in the spring\u2019s three-year-old sprint highlight of the Coolmore Stud Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m), although Ben Hayes suspects Tycoon Star may be suited by a longer trip, putting the Caulfield Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) more central on his horizon.<\/p>\n
For now, the trio will compete against their own sex on Saturday, and Hayes is warm on the chances of Scenic Point as she sets out to bring the stable only its second Quezette this century \u2013 the last coming in 2020 under the formation of Ben Hayes and Tom Dabernig with Bella Nipotina (Pride Of Dubai), before her transfer to Ciaron Maher and David Eustace.<\/p>\n
Bred by former Edinburgh Park boss Ian Smith, Scenic Point was a $450,000 Inglis Easter purchase for powerful Queensland owner Ron Wanless. She\u2019s the second foal out of non-winning mare Ludicrous Mode (Snitzel), a half-sister to Group 2-winning Aquis sire Glenfiddich (Fastnet Rock), from one of Smith\u2019s most successful families stemming from third dam Darling Alice (Northern Flagship).<\/p>\n
A late bloomer, Scenic Point debuted with a Pakenham maiden victory on March 20, before a length win over her four rivals home in Caulfield\u2019s Redoute\u2019s Choice Stakes (Listed, 1100m), starting at $1.40, on April 5.<\/p>\n
The richly dark-coloured filly has had two jump-outs this time in, the latest a sparkling 0.75-length win, coming from behind the leader, over 800 metres up the Flemington straight on August 4.<\/p>\n
Scenic Point will encounter a quality field in the Quezette including fellow resumers My Gladiola (I Am Invincible), Icarian Dream (Blue Point) and Blue Hotel (I Am Invincible), but Ben Hayes is keen on her chances.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s in great shape. I\u2019m really happy with her, and she\u2019s developed and strengthened really well coming into her three-year-old year,\u201d Hayes said of Scenic Point, who has barrier two of 11 for Daniel Stackhouse.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a yearling, she was a beautiful, well put-together filly that we loved, and Ron bought her and was kind enough to give us the opportunity to train her.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was a bit of a late maturer; it took her time to get to the races, but I think that\u2019s been to her benefit.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe didn\u2019t do too much wrong last prep, winning two races, the last of them a stakes race.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s trialled up great. The last one up the straight I was really pleased with. It looks like she\u2019s trained on out of that and I\u2019m expecting her to be really competitive on Saturday.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe seems sharp. I\u2019d expect she can run very well. It\u2019s a hot field, there\u2019s some nice horses in it, but she\u2019s one of them, so I\u2019m looking forward to it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hayes is keeping the option open for Scenic Point to start in Caulfield\u2019s Thousand Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) \u2013 back this year to its more traditional and sensible timeslot on October 18 \u2013 but is inclined to believe the Coolmore might be her most suitable target.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe trialled down the straight pretty well the other day, so she could be on the sharper side,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In the Vain, Shining Smile\u2019s picket fence will come under its greatest pressure yet as the colt \u2013 who scored a hat-trick of Listed wins in the early autumn \u2013 seeks a sixth victory at start number eight. He\u2019ll jump from gate five of eight under Stackhouse, who rode him in his first six starts before apprentice Logan Bates claimed three kilograms in his last\u2013start handicap.<\/p>\n
Bred by former Cups double winning jockey Scott Seamer, Shining Smile resumed with a 0.15\u2013length win under 59.5 kilograms \u2013 3.5 kilograms more than the second topweight \u2013 in a 1000-metre Flemington two-year-old handicap on July 19. Second home was Oyster Lane (Blue Point), who subsequently made it three city placings from all three starts when third at Moonee Valley last Saturday.<\/p>\n
Shining Smile \u2013 a $160,000 Gold Coast weanling sale buy for Boomer Bloodstock \u2013 was given a top-up jump-out over 800 metres on Flemington\u2019s inner grass on August 8. He won comfortably by 1.5 lengths, further boosting Hayes\u2019s confidence for the Vain, run like the Quezette under set weights and penalties.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a beautiful horse, and I\u2019d expect him to be very competitive again,\u201d Hayes said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe won first-up and won very well, beating a good horse and carrying a huge weight. He gets a nice little drop in weight now and goes to level weights against his own sex, so I think he\u2019ll be in it up to his ears.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s come back great this time in, developed well and has a big strong neck on him now. He\u2019s got a good record down the Flemington straight, so I\u2019d think the Coolmore would be his ultimate goal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tycoon Star, bought at Magic Millions Gold Coast by Lindsay Park for $400,000, with breeders Yulong keeping a quarter, showed considerable promise through a demanding six-start two-year-old season.<\/p>\n
After a two-race spring campaign that began with a length victory in Flemington\u2019s Maribyrnong Plate (Gr 3, 1000m), he resumed with a fourth in Caulfield\u2019s Blue Diamond Prelude (Gr 3, 1100m) before perhaps the most eye-catching run in the Group 1 main event, rattling home from 13th at the 400 metres for a 1.35\u2013length third, at $17.<\/p>\n
The hardy colt then campaigned in Sydney with a fourth in the Todman Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) and a tenth, beaten 4.9 lengths, in the Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m).<\/p>\n
Drawing gate two for Mark Zahra, he goes into the Vain after two jump-out wins at Caulfield and Flemington, the latest by around five lengths on the Flemington inner grass on August 8.<\/p>\n
\u201cTycoon Star has come back in terrific order,\u201d said Hayes, confirming the colt would keep his blinkers on for his three-year-old resumption.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe ran in all the big races last prep. He ran huge in the Blue Diamond, finished a length off them in the Todman, and the Slipper was a pass mark run.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s had two nice jump outs and won his last one by five lengths with the blinkers on, so we\u2019ve elected to keep those on. He\u2019s a horse who has a bit of a look, he\u2019s a bit cheeky, but he\u2019s trialled well, and I\u2019d imagine he\u2019d be one of the horses to beat in the Vain.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s another one who we\u2019ve got to work out whether it\u2019s sprinting or getting out to the mile, but I think he could maybe get out in trip.\u201d<\/p>\n
The prospect of rain-affected going on Saturday could throw up some form queries, but holds no fears for Hayes. Caulfield was a Soft 7 on Wednesday, with a 60-65 per cent chance of rain forecast on Friday night and Saturday.<\/p>\n
Both Hayes colts \u2013 but not Scenic Point \u2013 have had one try on soft going, with Shining Smile winning his last start on a Soft 5, and Tycoon Star running fourth at his second outing on a Soft 6, in Caulfield\u2019s Merson Cooper Stakes (Listed, 1000m).<\/p>\n
\u201cI reckon it\u2019ll be racing in the soft region, and I think that\u2019s no problem for our three,\u201d Hayes said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think a bit of give in the track is the worst thing, especially first-up. And normally Caulfield needs a bit of rain or it gets too firm.\u201d<\/p>\n
After a season in which they stamped themselves as Australia\u2019s most improved stable, the Hayes brothers are confident their trio of three-year-olds can provide them with some major early momentum in this campaign on Saturday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re very proud of the whole team,\u201d Ben said. \u201cA lot of hard work behind the scenes goes into it, and we\u2019ve got a great team behind us. To get rewarded like we were last season is the bonus, and we\u2019re hungry to do more.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re looking forward to this season. I think we\u2019ve got the right team to hopefully improve again.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Trevor Marshallsea Listen The Hayes Brothers are set to take a major step towards converting a bumper…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":64419,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[3004,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-64418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-racing","tag-racing","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64418"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64418\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}