Lindsay Park with a big Derby day Group 1 show
Arkansaw Kid, Apulia and Barbie’s Fox given strong chances in respective Flemington features
Ben, JD and Will, the latest generation of the Hayes clan, may not be able to replicate their father David’s Derby day bonanza of 1990, but the new era of Lindsay Park will have a strong hand in Flemington’s three Group 1s on Saturday.
Thirty-three years ago, David famously won six Group races on the Derby Day card, soon after his father Colin had handed the Lindsay Park baton on to him.
More than three decades later, his three sons are at the helm and have live chances in the Coolmore Stud Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m), the Victoria Derby (Gr 1, 2500m) and the Empire Rose Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m), the three majors on the opening day of the Flemington carnival.
Arkansaw Kid (Harry Angel), by the same first-crop Darley shuttler sire as last Saturday’s Spring Champion Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) winner Tom Kitten, can tee up a career at stud if he’s able to win the Coolmore and the breeding value of Barbie’s Fox (Foxwedge) would surge if she were to win her maiden Group 1 in the Empire Rose, the fillies and mares’ feature.
Apulia (Fiorente), the $4.50 second favourite for the Derby, would also prove a testament to the Hayes siblings’ ability and the Lindsay Park facilities if he can win the three-year-old staying test at his third start in as many weeks.
JD Hayes yesterday revealed not everything had gone smoothly for Arkansaw Kid this preparation, but that his last-start Gothic Stakes (Listed, 1200m) win signalled a turning point for the talented colt.
“He was supposed to be up-and-running early, but he just had a little bit of a setback, picking up a virus, which stopped him – so we had to bring him back through the trials again,” Hayes told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“He had two jump outs, and then heart fib [atrial fibrillation in the Poseidon Stakes at Flemington on September 16], so it hasn’t all gone to plan, but it’s all fallen into place in the past month and in time for a grand final, which is good.”
Considered a $26 chance in all-in markets in a race where Cylinder (Exceed And Excel) and King’s Gambit (I Am Invincible) share top billing at $4.50, but Arkansaw Kid is not out of his depth, according to Hayes.
A win in the Coolmore for the $190,000 Inglis Classic graduate would also complete a rare double for Harry Angel, who is also set to have last-start Phillip Stokes-trained Danehill Stakes (Gr 2, 1100m) winner Stretan Angel contest the race.
“We love the Harry Angels,” Hayes declared of the shuttler whose second-crop southern hemisphere-breds averaged $101,728 at the sales in 2023.
“We’re obviously a bit biased with Arkansaw Kid coming through, but they were well represented and well bought at the yearling sales this year.
“He throws a nice type and they seem to possess nice speed and then Tom Kitten doing what he did on the weekend, they can be quite versatile now – I think he’s a sire going places.”
Apulia will also go into the Derby as a last-start winner, having proven the superior stayer in Saturday’s Moonee Valley Vase (Gr 2, 2040m), defeating Justify’s (Scat Daddy) pair of Verdad and Air Assault in the process.
The colt, owned by Lindsay Park and Revelstone Stud, ran fourth in the Norman Robinson Stakes (Gr 3, 2000m) on the previous Saturday.
“He is probably going to be the fittest horse in Australia backing up three weeks in a row into the Derby, but he’s a big, strong colt who has copped the work and he’s licked the bin clean as well,” Hayes reported.
“He’s handled his racing beautifully and we put a really big base on him, so I think that’s what has held him in good stead at this busy time and hopefully he is able to reproduce a performance on Saturday like he did at the Valley.”
Hayes revealed it was “plan B, but it seems to be working really nicely” for Apulia to be racing three weeks in succession.
He said: “The cat got thrown amongst the pigeons when he got himself scratched in that 1800-metre race on that Sunday meeting at Flemington [September 24], so we had to readjust and it has fallen that way.”
As for Barbie’s Fox, fourth in the Epsom Handicap (Gr 1, 1600m) and second to the Symon Wilde-trained Wishlor Lass (Mshawish) in the Ladies Day Vase (Gr 3, 1600m) on her past two appearances, she will run in the Empire Rose after the Hayes brothers withdrew her early from last Saturday’s $2 million Invitation (1400m) in Sydney.
“She’s a mare in-form that just keeps putting up a run and it was good to see her form franked at the Valley with the Wilde horse winning again, so it’s going to be really exciting on Saturday,” he said.
“We weren’t able to get her up to Sydney, so we decided to give her the extra week and run her in the Empire Rose.”
Meanwhile, Hayes confirmed that this year’s Inglis Banner (RL, 1000m) winner Bold Bastille (Brazen Beau) and stablemate Blue Allure (Blue Point), who ran fifth in the same race and collected a $200,000 Inglis Pink Bonus as the first majority female-owned horse home in the sales-restricted race, will both be spelled instead of running during the Flemington carnival.