Racing: Hayes keen to soar with eagles

Photo / Richard Robinson

MELBOURNE - Trainer David Hayes is more than hopeful Eagle Falls can break his group one duck in the Manikato Stakes under lights at Moonee Valley tonight.

The Hussonet 5-year-old has raced at the highest level six times, including twice overseas, without being able to win but has gone close twice.

The entire was an unlucky fifth, beaten three-quarters of a length, to Starspangledbanner after being forced to go wide at the 200m in the Oakleigh Plate (1100m) at Caulfield in February.

He then went down by a length to Wanted in the Newmarket Hcp (1200m) at Flemington, a race which turned into a virtual procession with Starspangledbanner finishing third.

"He's good first-up and he's good at the track," Hayes said of Eagle Falls' three wins and a second at the Valley and two first-up wins from four tries.

"He hasn't run for a while but at his last two runs in Australia he was very unlucky not to have won. They were both pretty good runs."

Eagle Falls is at $12 with Sportsbet which has posted the John McNair-trained Hay List as $1.90 favourite.

The giant sprinter made it 10 wins from 12 starts when he had his first start at Moonee Valley with victory over Catapulted and Manikato rival Reward For Effort in the McEwen Stakes (1000m) on September 11.

"He [Hay List] looked pretty good, but I had a horse who won that race impressively last year, Nicconi, and he got beaten in it," Hayes said referring to Nicconi's third to Danleigh in the 2009 Manikato.

Gosford-based McNair expressed some nervousness with Hay List who will be attempting to land his first group one win and comes up against group one winners All Silent ($6.50) and Reward For Effort ($11).

"I don't have any doubts he's the best horse, but sometimes the best horse doesn't always win," he said.

"I've got concerns about the night air. We've got to overcome that. I might be worried about nothing, It's the first time he's going to be under lights as well.

"I don't [usually] race my horses at night. I'm afraid of the dark. But good horses have a habit of overcoming all sorts of things."

- AAP