Lindsay Park Racing is proud to announce that Will Hayes is joining Ben and JD to complete the Hayes training partnership as of August 1st, 2023.
Will, who has been working in the background of the business while playing professional AFL football is fulfilling his lifetime ambition to become a trainer.
“To join the partnership with my brothers and become a horse trainer is something I’ve wanted to do since I was a child. I’m very grateful and well aware of how fortunate I am to be joining my family’s well-established business.”
Will, 28, is JD’s twin brother and grew up in Hong Kong before attending high school in Melbourne and completing a Commerce Degree. And like JD, Will is proficient in Chinese after also gaining a diploma in Chinese languages. Progressing from stable hand duties to riding trackwork at a young age, Will became an Assistant Trainer at Lindsay Park Racing’s Flemington stable in 2021. Will dedicated himself – right from the beginning - to either working, riding or heading to trackwork every day to watch, listen and learn.
Will’s football prowess saw him divide his time between the family business and the demands of his football career. He played 110 VFL games, taking out two VFL Premierships for Footscray and was honoured as that club’s Best and Fairest. Selected for the Western Bulldogs in 2018, he played 11 AFL games prior to a brief career with Carlton before hanging up his footy boots in 2022. While playing VFL, he continued working for Lindsay Park Racing and even when at AFL level, Will attended track work every day, managing to divide himself effectively between his two great passions.
Will brings valuable experience as a professional sportsman to the business and his brothers. “My time at the AFL improved my understanding of sports science, especially around athlete load, recovery and management to achieve peak performance. I can see how this is interchangeable between human athletes and thoroughbreds,” he said, adding “I’m incredibly thankful to my family for affording me the opportunity to pursue all my dreams to date, including my long-awaited journey as a professional horse trainer.”
As a family, David, Prue, Ben, JD, Will and Sophie are incredibly proud that Lindsay Park Racing will continue under the three Hayes brothers and will head into the 2023 racing season led by their fresh enthusiasm, as they continue to uphold the 76-year-old Hayes family training tradition.
