David Hayes is on the verge of yet another first in Australian racing if he can land the A$5.1 million (HK$30.4 million) Emirates Melbourne Cup at Flemington next Tuesday.
Hayes, who trained in Hong Kong for 10 years and took away two titles as champion trainer, has already taken out the Caulfield Cup with Tawqeet and last Saturday won his second Cox Plate, courtesy of marvellous old warhorse Fields Of Omagh.
The Caulfield Cup, Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup are the 'big three' of the Melbourne spring carnival, and the last trainer to win them all in the one season was Hayes's arch-rival, Lee Freedman in 1992.
However, Hayes has also won the world's richest two-year-old race, the Golden Slipper Stakes, with Miss Finland this year and no trainer has ever won all four in the one calendar year.
Going along for a very enjoyable ride, and making his own special contribution, is Craig Williams. He's been on board Miss Finland and Fields Of Omagh for their big wins, while another familiar face to Hong Kong racegoers, Dwayne Dunn, is Tawqeet's pilot.
Hayes always says the Hong Kong scene is 'super competitive', but the astonishing success of both Hayes and Williams - top-level players here but by no means dominant - since their return to Australia underlines just how competitive it truly is.
