Family team looking for staying power
John and Wayne Hawkes are in Auckland for New Zealand Bloodstock's two-day Premier Yearling Sale with one intention — to buy potential staying racehorses from a massive pool of talent.
Team Hawkes comprises champion trainer John and sons Wayne and Michael with stables in Flemington, Melbourne and Rosehill, Sydney.
John and Wayne Hawkes were inspecting prospects yesterday and were impressed with the quality of yearling in the Karaka crop of 2011.
"We're here to buy potential staying racehorses and New Zealand is the only place where you find that type of yearling," said Wayne Hawkes.
"In Australia the preference at the moment is to breed speed. We are here looking for that potential Derby or Cup's horse and we're prepared to take our time with the yearlings we buy and let them mature.
"My father has been coming here for 35 years and myself the last 5-6 years. We like what we see as usual this year and New Zealand Bloodstock has done a great job putting together an outstanding catalogue."
John Hawkes is acknowledged as one of the all-time great trainers in Australia having won 10 national premierships, nine Sydney premierships, a six-time leading Group One trainer and nine-time leading stakeswinning trainer.
When you have trained champions like Octagonal and Lonhro, won more than 5000 races and 98 Group One events, a good eye for yearling talent ensures quality athletes.
Hawkes resigned as the head trainer for Jack and Bob Ingham in August 2007 to pursue a training partnership with sons Wayne and Michael.
Team Hawkes has been in outstanding form this season with stable star Maluckyday due back this autumn.
Maluckyday overcame a clear lack of racing experience to finish second in last year's Melbourne Cup and will again be targeting the two-mile feature at Flemington.
"We're lucky that the owner of Maluckyday is so patient as he's just let us do what we wanted with the horse and his form in the spring justified that.
"He'll have 3-4 runs in the autumn with the BMW in Sydney the main goal. Then we'll just plot a path towards the Melbourne Cup and with another year of racing under his belt he'll be a top chance."
Team Hawkes has smaller numbers these days — 22 in training at Rosehill and 20 at Flemington (with another 18 spelling or in pre-training) — as compared to the 650 all-up when training for the Inghams.
The emphasis is now on quality bloodstock.
"We have a smaller stable with probably 60 to 70 per cent of our stable being 2-year-olds.
"A lot of last year's yearlings we purchased were left here in New Zealand to mature and be educated and they have come over to Australia to us when we thought they were ready."
Story: New Zealand Herald