Lindsay Park’s dominance with its young brigade continued at Caulfield as the Ben, Will and JD Hayes team secured another feature win, this time producing the quinella in the $200,000 Listed Debutant Stakes with Torture defeating her stablemate Free Flying.
The victory followed their earlier triumph in the Listed Maribyrnong Trial Stakes with Eurocanto, confirming the stable’s early-season strength among two-year-olds. Ben Hayes said the result was particularly satisfying given both fillies’ pedigrees.
“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 victory handed first-season sire Sword Of State his maiden Australian success. The daughter of the Cambridge Stud stallion, ridden by Ethan Brown, proved too strong in the 1000m feature. Sword Of State, a son of Snitzel, stands for NZ$20,000 and has only had one other runner, State Of Valour, who was unplaced in New Zealand.
Free Flying, by Snitzel out of Ennis Hill and a half-sister to Learning To Fly, cost $750,000 at the Magic Millions and showed plenty of ability to finish second, while Tornado Valley lost no admirers finishing third after a tough run in transit.
Lindsay Park purchased Torture, a half-sister to Group 1 Robert Sangster Stakes winner Ruthless Dame, for NZ$250,000 at the Karaka Yearling Sale. Hayes said her progress had impressed the stable from the outset.
“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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