Hayes camp out to get Dark Dream back to Group 1 heights in the spring

Melbourne’s wet week has arrived at the perfect time for the beginning of Dark Dream’s bid to get back to Group 1 heights for the Lindsay Park operation.

Dark Dream won the Group 1 Queensland Derby in wet ground in 2018 before his transfer to Hong Kong soon after.

His Asian stint started in impressive fashion with two wins and two minor placings in his first seven starts in Hong Kong. But Dark Dream lost form after his third in the Group 1 Champions & Chater Cup in 2019.

Dark Dream was unplaced in his last nine Hong Kong starts but gave a glimpse of his class when beaten two lengths into fourth in the Group 1 Hong Kong Cup in February last year.

David Hayes had the gelding for two runs before sending him to sons Ben and JD to use the Lindsay Park property to get the son of All American back to his best form.

“His form tapered off and he wasn’t 100 percent genuine on the hard tracks in Hong Kong. He just wasn’t letting down on them,” Ben Hayes said.

“He managed to win two good races over there and was competitive but I think with the hard tracks over there and the repetitive runs on those tracks, he just started jarring up.

“He just wasn’t letting down 100 percent so the owner wanted a change of scenery and we were lucky enough to get him.”

Ben Hayes (above) has started training Dark Dream in partnership with his brother JD Hayes. Picture: AAPSource:AAP

Dark Dream relished soft ground in a Wodonga trial win on July 12, which left the stable expecting a solid first-up performance if conditions suit in a 1400m Open Handicap at Caulfield on Saturday.

Persistent showers throughout the week should lead to a soft surface for Dark Dream’s return to racing, which would give the Hayes camp a guide on the six-year-old’s progress.

“Hopefully he can get the softer tracks down here, which he should get on Saturday,” Hayes said.

“We think he’s going really well and are looking forward to seeing how he goes at Caulfield.”

Hayes said the stable would give Dark Dream two runs before either having a crack at earning a Caulfield Cup start via qualifying races or chasing rich support races during the spring.

“He’s got a rating of 98 so we’ll run him over 1400m then an open mile. Then depending on how he goes, we might look at the Naturalism (Stakes) third-up,” Hayes said.

“We’ll be going for the dream if he wins the Naturalism and running in the Caulfield Cup.

“If he runs a nice race in the Naturalism without winning, then there’s the JRA Cup and Ballarat Cup there for him.”

Originally published asDark Dream out to light up Caulfield on return

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