Personal form has Hayes confident ahead of Golden Slipper
DAVID Hayes has won a Golden Slipper Stakes but it’s also a race which has frustrated the star trainer who has also collected six seconds and four thirds.
Hayes believes he can add another Golden Slipper to his tally on Saturday with twoyear-old filly Personal, before he heads to Hong Kong in the middle of the year and hands the reins to Lindsay Park to his son Ben and nephew Tom Dabernig.
“I wouldn’t swap her for any other runner,” Hayes said., comparing Personal to Miss Finland, the horse which gave him his win in the Golden Slipper in 2006.
“I’ve always said she reminds me of Miss Finland. When Miss Finland won she finished second in the Blue Diamond Stakes and Personal’s third in the same race was an equivalent run,” Hayes said.
Also Craig Williams who won on Miss Finland will ride Personal.
Hayes’ confidence received a boost with Personal’s impressive trial performance at Randwick last week.
“We sent Craig (Williams) to trial her and it was all about her having an experience on her right leg with the plan for her to run about fifth,” he said.
“She went so well she won the trial without even trying. She sat three wide and won untouched.”
Hayes wasn’t surprised how well she handled the Sydney direction, revealing she had worked every day at Flemington for the past month that way.
“She’s very fit. Since the Blue Diamond she's had a good month. Her last gallop was a Group One class gallop,” he said.
Hayes is hoping that recent easy Flemington winner Minhaaj can also get a run but she was 27th in the updated order of entry after Saturday’s racing.
“I'm training her as if she’s in and if she does get in it’s a nice to have a $3.5 million barrier trial to get her ready for the Percy Sykes Stakes,” he said.