Apart from the major races that are being fought out during October and November each year in Australia, David Hayes also has another important date etched into his memory at this time of year.
The trainer is well aware that to restock your staying ranks, the Tattersalls Sales in Newmarket, England is a priority. Every year about the same time the Cox Plate is conducted in Melbourne, some of the stayers that will be key players in the spring carnival of next year are being auctioned in England. It's not a sale for the fainthearted or those with a limited line of credit.
With the migration of bloodstock agents and wealthy owners to England in recent years, the sale at Newmarket has become profoundly important to distance racing in Australia.
Last September, two clients of Hayes said they would be flying to England to be a part of the sale and were keen to snare a Caulfield and Melbourne Cup competitor.
Many maintain that since the first cups horses were lured to Australian shores from the sale, prices have become prohibitive, with Australians looking to the English and Irish markets inflating the worth of horses on offer.
"We've always been involved in the sale and last year I had two very keen clients who had bloodstock agents that were scouring the catalogue for the horse that could give them a Melbourne Cup," Hayes said. "I was naturally enthusiastic for them."
On arrival at the sales, neither client knew they were looking for the same horse, but after a chance meeting they decided to put their resources together to buy an extremely talented galloper named Harlem.
"It seemed the best way to do it. It gave them a bigger amount to bid for the horse as both of their bloodstock agents had identified Harlem was giving all of the ticks from exceptional confirmation down to racetrack performances," he said.
After spirited bidding, the pair managed to outbid a group of Arabs and paid ??520,000 ($890,000) for the horse.
On Saturday, Harlem repaid only a fraction of his purchase price by winning the $150,000 MRC Foundation Cup at Caulfield.
However, that was a significant win, perhaps a win that makes Harlem a very reasonable purchase last October.
The stayer is guaranteed a start in the $3 million Caulfield Cup and is weighted at just 51 kilograms. Now Hayes and his owners must wait on a penalty in the 2400-metre handicap.
"I think Greg Carpenter will be happy just to let the weight stand and then we can move on to the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups," Hayes quipped.
The trainer believes that Harlem, who has just 51 kilograms in the Melbourne Cup, will be better suited at 3200 metres as the horse has all of the staying potential required to win Australia's most important handicap. His most important weapon is his turn of foot that surprised most at Caulfield on Saturday.
"From the time he arrived at Euroa, he looked great and he didn't need a lot of acclimatising. Any horse that can run third in the Blamey Stakes is a horse that has really settled in his new surroundings," Hayes said.
The pleasant problem that Hayes and the owners of Harlem have now is scouring the world to find a jockey who will be able to ride 51 kilograms in the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups.
"There's a lot of nice problems to overcome when you get into two of our great handicaps with such a light weight. All of a sudden that ??520,000 of last October doesn't seem quite so big after last Saturday," he said.
