And with generational nous for training winners and a desire to thrive, the brothers continue to take bigger and bigger strides, recently claiming the Victorian Trainers’ Premiership after saddling the most winners during the 2024/25 season.
The Hayes produced 240 winners, with Will and Ben on hand to accept the gong at last Saturday evening’s Victorian Racing Awards at the Plaza Ballroom in Melbourne.
It’s another significant milestone in the latest chapter of the illustrious Hayes racing legacy.
“To be recognised as one of the leading trainers in Victoria is obviously a big privilege, and we can't do it without our owners and the team behind us,” Ben Hayes said.
“It’s something that we've worked hard for, and it's nice to be recognised.
“Will, JD and I have been training in partnership for five years now - Will the previous two - and we've slowly built every year, improved, and we managed to finish on top which is fantastic.
“It was a good night celebrating the whole racing industry, the jockeys and the trainers.”
Popular stable star Mr Brightside was in the running for Victorian Racehorse of the Year following a campaign that saw the classy eight-year-old salute four Group 1 victories, including the Makybe Diva Stakes (1600m) and Champions Mile (1600m) at Flemington before a successful defence of his Futurity Stakes title.
While the top gong for equine excellence went the way of Via Sistina, the $17,000,000 star out of Lindsay Park will likely be in conversations again at next year’s awards and of course with another big spring coming up.
Mr Brightside continuous improvement and stablemate War Machine’s victory in the Stradbroke Handicap at Eagle Farm in June stand out as recent highlights for Hayes.
“(Mr Brightside) won four Group 1’s for the year - they were all very special,” he said.
“He's a special horse to the whole Lindsay Park team.
“And probably towards the end of the season, winning the Stradbroke (with War Machine) over in Queensland, that was pretty special as well.
“It was a horse that we were given after Mike Maroney sadly passed away, and for him to win for Mike and the whole Ballymore team was a big result as well.”
Now, the Hayes’ are turning their eyes to new goals.
“Every year we want to try and improve,” Hayes said.
“Obviously, (we want to) try and beat the amount of winners we got this year, that would be good.
“I think to try to be a bit more competitive in Metro, hopefully we can catch up to Ciaron Maher a little bit.
“We’re definitely heading in the right direction and we feel we've got a good team of owners around us, good support from all our staff and hopefully can continue the success.”
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