Lindsay Park after 2025 Stradbroke Handicap win

For the Lindsay Park team led by Ben, Will, and JD Hayes, Saturday’s Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) offers a golden chance to conquer one of Australian racing’s longstanding challenges.

The stable has been trying to win the race for decades, from the days of Colin Hayes through to David Hayes and even Tony McEvoy, but success in the Stradbroke has proven elusive—until now, perhaps.

This year they’ll saddle up War Machine and Rise At Dawn, giving them their strongest chance yet.

“We had our first runner last year and he didn’t go us well as we had hoped, but this year we’ve got the best hand that we’ve ever had and hopefully with a couple of nice draws, we should get every chance,” Ben Hayes said.

War Machine has been a revelation since joining their camp, including wins at Caulfield and in the BRC Sprint (1350m).

“We got approached by Rupert (Legh) and everyone involved, and it was an offer you couldn’t say no to,” Hayes said. “Mike was a very good trainer, and he had lots of Group 1 success. He had a lot of nice horses and we’re benefitting from that, and we’ll do our best to get a result for him.”

War Machine completed his final gallop on Tuesday, leaving the team thrilled with his condition. “He’s done everything right and he looks fantastic, so we’ve just got to wrap him in cotton wool to get him to the big day,” Hayes said.

Rise At Dawn, fifth in last weekend’s Kingsford Smith Cup (1300m), benefits from a big weight drop and is well placed under handicap conditions.

“I think you can look back to his autumn carnival when he ran in the All-Star Mile,” Hayes said. “He got beaten four lengths there and then he ran fourth in a Doncaster and got beaten just under half-a-length.”

“He’s come through his run in good order and we’re confident he can run really well,” Hayes concluded. “He’s definitely a danger, not only to War Machine, but all the others in the race.”