Little Brose’s $200,000 purchase at last year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale now seems a shrewd bargain buy after his stunning finish to win the Blue Diamond Stakes at Sandown last Saturday.
Renowned bloodstock agent Dean Hawthorne played a key role in the acquisition from the Sledmere Stud draft for Ben and JD Hayes at Lindsay Park.
Stable staff were instantly impressed by the colt and knew he was capable of great things.
Ben Hayes indicated as much post-race.
“I thought he was good enough to win … To see a beautiful run and a beautiful ride by Michael (Dee) and to win so impressively is so exciting,” he said.
“He’s a really exciting horse.”
2023 Blue Diamond Stakes – Little Brose (1st)
Young, hard-working trainers themselves, the Hayes brothers have no shortage of promising two-year-olds under their collective watch.
Another one to impress for them in the Blue Diamond Stakes was Arkansaw Kid, who finished third.
He was picked up for $190,000, also from the Sledmere Stud draft, at last year’s Inglis Classic Yearling Sale, and he is not far behind Little Brose in Lindsay Park’s two-year-old pecking order.
The stable’s sales and client liaison manager, Tom Ryan, said both colt talents were well spotted by Hawthorne.
“They were sourced well from bloodstock agent Dean Hawthorne, and they’re doing very well,” Ryan told HorseBetting.com.au.
“Both of them are great young horses.
“Dean Hawthorne was a big fan of the sire (for Little Brose).
“The sire Per Incanto was known, but he wasn’t well-known.
“Dean was very keen on him.”
Surprisingly, Arkansaw Kid was passed in, and Hawthorne was quick to pounce.
“Arkansaw Kid was a lovely horse from day one. He was from the first crop of the Harry Angels and he was a standout at the Classic Sale,” Ryan said.
“And he actually passed in, and we jumped at him straight away.
“We couldn’t believe that he passed in because he was a standout horse, which was lucky for us.”
Last year, the Hayes team had eight two-year-old winners from 61 runners, and only one Listed victor among them.
Ben said after the Blue Diamond Stakes that his stable staff discussed making some changes with their two-year-olds, saying they got them “slightly wrong”.
“We improved on that and I think it’s huge going forward. It’s very, very exciting,” he added.
The man at the forefront of the Hayes’ improving performances from their two-year-olds has been Shaun Nolen, champion jockey Luke’s brother.
“He does all our breaking in and he’s a second-to-none horseman,” Ryan said.
“He’s a big part of our two-year-olds.
“(There were) no real major changes – just some tweaks to the education process.”
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