Three generations of
horse racing excellence
COLIN HAYES ERA
Inspired after a trip to the UK where he experienced horses trained in a country environment, Colin established Lindsay Park Racing Stable and Stud amongst the magnificent red gums and rolling hills of Barossa Valley, South Australia in 1965.
It was a visionary move to take horses away from the traditional training circuit of a city track. With intuition and a masterful plan, Colin Hayes developed a world-class training complex drawing accolades from industry experts the world over. An ideal equine environment for breeding and training, it was the foundation of success for generations.
Colin Hayes loved horses. In a 43 year career he trained 5,333 winners including 524 Group or Listed winners. His wins included two Melbourne Cups, four VRC Derbys, three Cox Plates, three Australian Cups, three Blue Diamonds, four Newmarket Handicaps, one Caulfield Cup, one Sydney Cup and Golden Slipper Stakes.
As well as Australia’s premier private training facility, Colin also conducted his successful breeding operation from the Angaston property. Lindsay Park Stud became home to some of Australia’s most influential stallions including Without Fear, Zabeel, At Talaq, Jeune and Rory’s Jester. Colin had a strong passion for breeding and together with Robert Sangster, he initiated the shuttle stallion into Australia.
Colin Hayes established Lindsay Park as a dominant force in Australian racing and breeding for decades. Colin retired from training in 1990 and was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame in 2001.
DAVID HAYES ERA
Taking over where his father left off, David Hayes launched his training career with a tirade of winners. Not only did he take Lindsay Park to further heights, but also to the world.
David won the Melbourne and Adelaide Trainers Premierships in each of his first five seasons. David’s wife Prue is also an integral part of the Lindsay Park team, responsible for making the behind the scenes of the company tick. He then accepted an invitation to train in Hong Kong from 1996, which he did successfully for nine seasons.
While David was in Hong Kong, his older brother Peter was handed the reins of Lindsay Park. Under Peter’s care the winning momentum continued with Lindsay Park taking four Melbourne Premierships and five Adelaide Premierships until his tragic death in 2001.
Long time assistant trainer Tony McEvoy immediately stepped in to train, and took Lindsay Park to a further three Adelaide Premierships and one Melbourne Premiership prior to David returning from Hong Kong in 2005.
With David at the helm, the stable was immediately brought back to the top of Australian Racing. In 2006-07 David’s horses won a staggering 11 Group One races and in excess of AUD$19,000,000 in prize money. He won the Melbourne and Adelaide Trainers Premierships in both 2006-07 and 2007-08.
PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE: EUROA
The Hayes family motto is the famous Malcom X quote: ‘The future belongs to those who plan for it’. Shortly after returning from Hong Kong, David and Prue Hayes made a plan for the future of Lindsay Park. The first part of the plan involved divesting of the breeding interests to allow David to focus his attention on the training of the racehorses. This was achieved in 2008 when David sold his share of Lindsay Park Stud to his nephew Sam Hayes and business partners, now named Cornerstone Stud.
The next part of the plan involved centralising operations at a new purpose built facility in Victoria: Lindsay Park Euroa.
The new property has been modelled on Lindsay Park, Angaston and designed to take advantage of the country environment that has been key to the success of Lindsay Park in the past, but with all of the modern technologies and features not available at metropolitan racetracks. The location of the property at Euroa allows us to focus on Victorian racing and at the same time being within easy reach of Adelaide and Sydney Metropolitan Racing.
THIRD GENERATION PARTNERSHIP
Tom Dabernig, David’s nephew, grew up at Lindsay Park under the eye of his grandfather, Colin Hayes and joined the racing team in 1993 working in the Angaston stable.
The purchase of the property in Euroa in 1999 saw Tom oversee its initial development, transforming it into the pre-training and breaking-in arm of Lindsay Park.
In 2006, Tom held a trainer’s licence whiling running the pre-training/breaking complex.
Tom re-located to the Flemington stables in 2009 as David’s assistant trainer. The further development of the Euroa property saw Tom’s expertise in building the cutting edge training complex become imperative, along with his horse training experience.
David Hayes and Tom Dabernig entered into an official training partnership under the Lindsay Park Racing banner on August 1, 2014.
Two years on, David brought his eldest son Ben into the partnership on August 1, 2016.
Ben grew up with racing in his sights, living in Hong Kong on the Sha Tin track. He gained valuable international experience working in the UK for Charlie Hills, and as a pupil assistant for trainer John Gosden in Newmarket, where he was in charge of the European preparation of Gr 1 winner Criterion.
Lindsay Park is a family business, developed over a rich history with three generations of Champion trainers and exceptional training facilities. It is the same principles that will carry Lindsay Park Racing well into the future.
