Hayes brothers want to be the best but enjoyment is the key to success

Brothers Ben, JD and Will Hayes continue to go from strength to strength as they handle the pressure and expectation that comes with being the sons and grandsons of Hall of Fame trainers.

Enjoyment has been as important as equine talent at Lindsay Park in the Ben, JD and Will Hayes era.

As sons and grandsons of racing royalty, Hall of Fame trainer David and the late legend CS, expectation and pressure is a given.

“We love this game and we’ve got a good team,” Ben Hayes said.

“All we can do is enjoy it because sometimes you can feel too much pressure.

“You got to enjoy it and have fun, and there’s three of us, so we can spread the load.”

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Power is in the people at Lindsay Park, strength in numbers.

Teams at Euroa, Flemington and Pakenham make the dream work behind the “shop front” – Ben, JD and Will.

They flirted with 200 Victorian winners last season but finished one short.

“We’re very proud, trained 199 winners (in the season), to get 200 would’ve been nice but we’ll get that this year,” Hayes said.

“We’re young and enthusiastic and we’re hungry and want to keep improving.

“We want to be competitive with the best and we’ll be trying our best.”

Champion trainer Ciaron Maher, “the best” in Melbourne and Victoria the past five years, is the benchmark.

“We got to be realistic, Ciaron has probably got double the horses we have so just through weight of numbers it’s very hard to keep up, but we’ll be trying,” Hayes said.

“We can be competitive in the metro (premiership) this year, we’ll finish hopefully a bit closer.”

Will, Ben Hayes and JD Hayes celebrating last year’s Memsie Stakes win with Mr Brightside. Picture: Scott Barbour / Racing Photos

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Few would be better qualified than Craig Williams for an external view on Lindsay Park.

The champion jockey has ridden more than 300 winners for the family, including 24 Group 1s across five Lindsay Park eras — David (15), Ben, JD and Will (four), David, Ben and Tom Dabernig (three), David and Tom (one) and Ben and JD (one).

Williams has known the Hayes siblings, including sister Sophie, who runs the business side of the operation, since they were children.

“The family strength is their unity and their smarts, all four of them will have a different input to get the best results,” Williams said.

“Most importantly they’re also trying to give their owners enjoyment because not everyone has a Mr Brightside.

“As trainers, as people, I’ve been there when you win and when you lose and the way they conduct themselves as a unit, it’s admirable.”

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Ben and JD’s first 12 months together were the hardest and stressful, rebuilding a stable, but it also shaped the future.

“Always doubts, a lot of pressure,” Ben Hayes admitted.

“We’re sons of a Hall of Fame horse trainer who has a legendary Hall of Fame horse trainer father, you want to perform and you want to do your best.

“We were lucky we found a couple superstar horses in our first season, Gentleman Roy, Mr Brightside, Zayydani, they were really important horses because they put us in the spotlight.

“We concentrated and kept our head down, focused on our communication and processes, got the right team around us, and I think everyone is seeing the results of hard work.”

Mr Brightside and Gentleman Roy tackle Pride Of Jenni in the Group 1 Memsie Stakes on Saturday.

Gentleman Roy is the latest in a string of Lindsay Park horses – Rise At Dawn, Ndola, Rheinberg – to win or race consistently.

After 12 months in a paddock, to rejuvenate a seasoned frame, the eight-year-old Gentleman Roy has won three on the trot.

The streak started with a Sandown midweek in June, then a Benchmark 100 seven weeks later and into Group 2 PB Lawrence Stakes.

Perfect placement.

Hall of Fame trainers Colin Hayes and David Hayes.

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The stable has saddled winners at Cranbourne, Swan Hill, Ballarat, Flemington, Wodonga, Pakenham Synthetic, Geelong, Sandown, Caulfield, Geelong, Wangaratta and The Valley the past month.

Will Hayes, in his second season on the ticket, has enjoyed being more involved in race plans and placement.

They start with a review on Monday and there is nowhere to hide.

Wins and losses, good runs, bad or indifferent, they all go under the microscope.

Ben, JD and Will share their observations and opinions.

Racing manager Dom Rhoden and form analyst Grace Ramage hold court on the data, speed maps and sectionals.

“My grandfather had a quote that sticks with us, ‘you keep yourself in the best company and your horse in the worst’,” Will Hayes said.

“That’s something we live by and continually try and do.”

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Not every call is right but it is only wrong if they don’t learn from the mistake.

“We butt heads all the time but it all comes from the right place, it’s not because we dislike each other,” Ben Hayes said.

“Everyone has slightly different opinions and we all get heard.

“We all work together … everyone gets a say, at the moment we’re making the right calls but we could easily make the wrong calls as well.

“Sometimes I’m wrong, sometimes JD is wrong, sometimes Will is wrong and sometimes the decision we make together is wrong.

“We’re really concentrating on our form … something we have focused on and we’re placing our horses that little bit better in the right races and they’re running competitively, that’s what makes happy trainers and happy owners.”

Originally published as Hayes brothers want to be the best but enjoyment is the key to success