Danehill still firing for Hayes family
Trainer David Hayes celebrated a rare and treasured achievement award over the weekend as deceased the champion stallion Danehill provided winners for his yard in Australia and Hong Kong.
Last Thursday night, the Lindsay Park training and breeding complex founded by his legendary father, Colin 'C. S' Hayes, received a special achievement award at the Australian Racing Hall of Fame function in Adelaide.
Hayes said: 'It was a fantastic compliment from the Australian racing industry, honouring all the wonderful things C. S. had started and that we've been able to carry on at Lindsay Park after his passing.'
And it was fitting that current Lindsay Park trainer Tony McEvoy saddled his first Australian Group One winner on Saturday, when Danehill provided the yard with the South Australian Oaks winner, Larrocha.
Hayes also led in the first Hong Kong winner by Danehill since his passing - Dongguan Excels, who was the second leg of a Dwayne Dunn double.
'It wasn't a bad win really even though it was narrow. He sat three wide cutting the breeze and because the track was playing frontrunners, I had him handier than he probably likes,' said Dunn, before flying to Australia to ride in today's Group One Adelaide Cup (3,200 metres). Dunn will ride Terminus Prince for his father, Barry. He will return for Wednesday's Sha Tin meeting.
The Australian's earlier winner, Congee King, caused a mild surprise in the fourth race, but trainer Ricky Yiu Poon-fie gave the credit to Dunn and the soft going.
'Another trainer, David Hill, said the going was a bit like congee today so my horse was sure to handle it,' he laughed. 'But, actually, it was a pretty weak race. Congee King found the lead and kept going. He's just a one-pacer and Dwayne had him in the right place. He hasn't had a lot of racing so I suppose he could improve and win again, but he'd need to find another very weak race.'
Dunn said: 'Congee King led in his trial the other day and didn't go that bad. He stayed on quite OK in the lead today and maybe he'll run further.'
The pair took Dunn to 33 victories for the season, eclipsing the 32 wins he managed last year.
