Lindsay Park makes a 2025 Debutant Stakes statement

Lindsay Park’s two-year-old team continued its brilliant start to the season at Caulfield, with the Hayes brothers – Ben, Will and JD – training the quinella in the $200,000 Listed Debutant Stakes. Promising filly Torture came out on top, holding off stablemate Free Flying in an impressive performance.

The result came on the back of the stable’s earlier Listed Maribyrnong Trial Stakes win with Eurocanto, reinforcing Lindsay Park’s reputation for producing top-class juveniles. Ben Hayes was delighted that both fillies could deliver black-type results so early in their careers.

“It’s nice to run one-two in the race and to get some Black Type with fillies is very important,” Hayes said.

“I thought she won very well. She loomed into it, hit the front and did everything right today, so it’s a big thrill for the whole team.

“Two-year-olds are something that we really enjoy doing and coming out and winning the first two races of the season is a big thrill.”

Torture’s half-length win over 1000m gave first-season sire Sword Of State a dream Australian debut. Ridden by Ethan Brown, the filly showed professionalism beyond her years. Sword Of State, by Snitzel, stands at Cambridge Stud in New Zealand for NZ$20,000 and has only one other runner to his name so far.

Free Flying, a $750,000 Magic Millions filly by Snitzel and half-sister to Learning To Fly, filled the runner-up spot, while Tornado Valley, a $300,000 Too Darn Hot colt, did well to grab third after a tough run.

Torture was bought for NZ$250,000 from the Karaka Yearling Sale and is a half-sister to Group 1 Robert Sangster Stakes winner Ruthless Dame. Hayes said she had exceeded the team’s expectations.

“She’s a beautiful-looking horse, when you see her come in she’s got so much more improvement to come, which is exciting,” Hayes said.

“For her to come out with a Debutant probably wasn’t, when we bought her, thinking we were going to do that, but she just kept improving, kept showing us that she could get there and her trial was good so we thought, why not?”

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