For grandma: Ben & JD Hayes’ emotional Magic Millions tilt with Croatian Belle

The Hayes brothers come from a proud racing family and are looking to honour their late grandmother, Betty, by winning the $2m 2YO Classic in her colours, made famous by the likes of Dulcify.

Ben (back right) and JD (front right) Hayes are looking to win the Magic Millions in honour of their granmother Betty Hayes. Picture: News Corp Australia.

Croatian Belle doesn’t need to scale the heights Cox Plate winner Dulcify did in the 1970s to write another chapter in the Hayes’ remarkable racing story.

Ben and JD Hayes will look to honour their late grandmother, Betty Hayes, by winning the Magic Millions 2YO Classic with the filly, who races in her famous silks.

The two brothers come from a proud history of horse trainers and race Croatian Belle, the Magic Millions hopeful who is walking in the shadow of Cox Plate winner Dulcify, that was trained by their legendary grandfather Colin.

After a brief hiatus, the Hayes brothers, along with father David elected to bring the black and blue silks back for ladies-owned horses as a way of remembering their grandmother.

While she died in 2012, JD Hayes said it was important to the Lindsay Park brand to have his grandmother remembered through her colours.

Croatian Belle carries the famous Dulcify colours. Picture: Scott Barbour — Racing Photos via Getty Images.

“It is really important to our family history, these colours,” he said.

“To have them out and running again means a lot, it’s even better to see them winning.

“We only recently decided to start them back up and get them going again, it has been a great addition to the stable.

“The thinking behind it was to race ladies-owned horses only in these colours in honour of Betty Hayes.”

With David training in Hong Kong, the Hayes name still runs right through the Lindsay Park brand, with third brother and former AFL footballer Will an assistant trainer to Ben and JD.

JD said he had vivid memories of his grandmother, who was instrumental in building the now famous racing dynasty.

“She passed away in the early 2000s, so I had a bit to do with her and I can remember her being a lovely woman, she was so nice to everyone she met,” he said.

“She was just the best, most of my memories with her came in the later days when she was a bit sick, but she was just such a classy lady.

Betty Hayes (centre) was instrumental in setting up the Hayes family dynasty. Picture: News Corp Australia.

“She loved her racing, but she didn’t have a chance not to (like it), being married to CS.

“There has been some seriously good horses outside of Dulcify that have raced in these colours.”

Speaking from Hong Kong, David said his father loved to race horses with his wife Betty, something that has been passed down through the generations.

“Rory’s Jester raced in those colours when he won the (Golden) Slipper, Haymaker won the VRC Derby in them, it wasn’t just Dulcify that made them famous,” he said.

While Dulcify was an $8000 yearling that turned into a “freak”, Croatian Belle has always caught the eye of the Hayes brothers with her two-from-two record.

Her two Moonee Valley wins have her as a leading contender for Saturday’s feature and will be the only Victorian horse represented in the race.

“She has settled in beautifully here, we will give her a final hit out on Tuesday, so we will know where we’re at with her then,” JD said.