Latest news with #ColinHayes
News.com.au
19 hours ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Queensland Oaks contender Jenni's Meadow marks full-circle moment for owner Tony Ottobre
In his younger days, prominent owner Tony Ottobre was an apprentice jockey for the late Hall of Fame trainer Colin Hayes. Now, in a full-circle moment, Hayes' grandsons Ben, Will and JD are training Ottobre's filly Jenni's Meadow in what looks to be a wide-open race in the Group 1 Queensland Oaks (2200m) at Eagle Farm on Saturday. The David Vandyke -trained Philia, chasing a fifth straight victory, has drifted slightly to $4.20 in the betting market after drawing barrier 16 while Jenni's Meadow is $8. Group 1 Australasian Oaks winner Benagil is $5.50 and the Chris Waller -trained Movin Out, with James McDonald on board, is $8 in the $700,000 race for three-year-old fillies. Both Movin Out and Jenni's Meadow came from well back in the field to heap the pressure on frontrunning winner Philia in the Group 2 The Roses (2000m) at Doomben two weeks ago. 'She did make a long sustained run and the way she finished off, you'd think the extra 200m (in the Oaks) will be no problem,' Ben Hayes said. 'We're really happy with her and she's done everything right. 'She's really thrived and her final piece of work earlier in the week was excellent. 'We feel like we're right on track, we're just going to need a little bit of luck from barrier one, which is the opposite of The Roses (barrier 14).' Ottobre started out as an apprentice jockey in the early 1970s for legendary trainer Colin Hayes, who established the famous Lindsay Park Stud in South Australia's Barossa Valley. Hayes built a training and breeding empire that produced an incredible 5333 winners by the time he retired in 1990, including two Melbourne Cup victories with Beldale Ball (1980) and At Talaq in 1986. • 'How do they work that out?': Trainer queries Joliestar 'best horse' tag Ottobre eventually realised his future lay in owning horses rather than riding them and he became a successful businessman. He now keeps his stable of horses at his Cape Schanck farm on the Mornington Peninsula, enjoying enormous success over the past two years with three-time Group 1 champion and reigning horse of the year Pride Of Jenni. 'He's got a little bit of history with Lindsay Park, which is good, so it'll be exciting to get a good winner for Tony,' Ben Hayes said about Ottobre, who names his Jenni horses after his daughter, who tragically died from brain cancer at age 26 in 2015. 'He's passionate and he loves his horses. She (Jenni's Meadow) has been a very good horse for him the whole way through. 'She's a Listed winner, black-type Group 2, Group 3 placed and she'll be around the mark. 'She's definitely more than capable (of winning the Oaks).' All horses in the three Group 1s – the Oaks, Queensland Derby (2400m) and Kingsford Smith Cup (1300m) – at Eagle Farm on Saturday have been passed by vets, with the exception of Let's Fly. Vets say the $21 Oaks chance has some muscle soreness and the filly will need to be trotted up again on race morning.
News.com.au
4 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Trainer Ben Hayes chasing Stradbroke Handicap win before the birth of his first child
Family patriarch Colin Hayes adopted the motto 'the future belongs to those who plan for it' and Lindsay Park's current crop is upholding the tradition. Ben Hayes is the latest of Colin's grandsons to start a family on his own as he confirmed his wife, racing media personality Grace Ramage, is expecting the couple's first child later this year. Hayes's twin brothers and training partners Will and JD became fathers to sons last year but he said he and Ramage were expecting a daughter. 'We've got a little girl on the way. It's so exciting,' Hayes said. 'She's the first girl.' Hayes said time would tell whether the Hayes dynasty would stretch to a fourth generation. 'It really depends on the next generation,' Hayes said. 'If they want to do it, we'll certainly support them.' • 'It jeopardises the Stradbroke': Benedetta back-up gamble While the Hayes family will have cause for celebration in a few months' time, the training trio could take Lindsay Park into uncharted territory in the Group 1 $3 million Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) on June 14. Neither Colin nor their father David has prevailed in Queensland's most famous race but recent stable recruit War Machine raced to Stradbroke favouritism with his dominant win the Group 3 BRC Sprint at Doomben. Bookmakers promoted War Machine to the $4 favourite in Stradbroke betting with that quote set to tighten should Chris Waller withdraw Newmarket Handicap winner Joliestar from the $3m event. Hayes said War Machine had progressed well since his Doomben win but the camp had to finalise one important detail for the four-year-old's Stradbroke Handicap bid. 'We've got to find a jockey and that will probably be after this week,' Hayes said. 'He gets into the Straddie really well with only 53 (kg). 'I think he's a deserved favourite and his form is great. 'Hopefully he can have a bit of luck with the barrier.' A race-to-race double for @blake_shinn as War Machine wins the last at Doomben in impressive fashion! @lindsayparkrace — SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) May 24, 2025 • Group 1-winning jockey facing six weeks on the sidelines War Machine will be out to give prominent Melbourne owner Rupert Legh his third Stradbroke Handicap win. The late Mike Moroney prepared Mr Baritone (2008) and Tofane (2021) to win the event carrying Legh's navy and yellow silks. Tofane went on to win another two Group 1 events. Hayes said War Machine could also develop into a consistent Group 1 performer in the spring. 'We don't want to think too far ahead and we'll just focus on the Straddie but he would be an excellent Toorak horse and I think they moved the Rupert Clarke back to where it was as well,' Hayes said. 'There's heaps of that type of race for him so there's plenty of options. 'He's hard to get a guide on at home because he's a lazy worker, just like Mr B but he just turns up race day. 'We love horses that do it and that's what he's done for us so far.'
