Do they dare back him up?
That is the question hanging over the Hayes stable after debutant Hard Kick’s commanding win in Saturday’s Talindert Stakes. To roll the dice in the Blue Diamond Stakes at start number two, just seven days after his first race start, would be audacious. It would also be entirely in keeping with the authority he displayed at Flemington.
Under Damian Lane, the gelding led, dictated and then dashed clear, never looking like being caught. The margin was dominant. The performance even more so.
It came exactly 20 years after another Hayes-trained juvenile star, Miss Finland, captured the same race. In a bittersweet twist, the win arrived just a day after news of Miss Finland’s passing following a respiratory illness. The symmetry was poignant.
“We’re not sure he’s as good as Miss Finland, but he looked pretty good there,” J D Hayes said.
Hard Kick bolts in the Talindert Stakes on debut‼️
Tentyris won the race last year 👀@LaneDamian @lindsayparkrace pic.twitter.com/AcwvAXme4p
— 7HorseRacing 🐎 (@7horseracing) February 14, 2026
Purchased at the Sydney Ready To Run Sale, Hard Kick had long given the stable confidence.
“He was bought in the Sydney Ready To Run. Dad was representing the company and he was purchased for connections. What a thrill. He’s been very well educated at home and we thought he was pretty good and he won with authority there.”
Authority was the defining feature. He controlled the tempo, absorbed mid-race pressure and then kicked decisively.
“Winning by four… That was the most easy part of it, but how he was able to control the tempo and kick off. It was a very professional performance,” Hayes added.
Lane felt the same.
“He was. Once the other horses got near him, he wanted to race them, so he’s just a natural competitor and he took a bit of slowing down after the line.”
The jump from 800 metre jump-outs to 1100 metres on race day posed a natural query. It proved irrelevant.
“You’re never sure going up to 1100 with two-year-olds off the back of 800-metre jumpouts, but he did give the feel he was going to be better past 800 metres and that’s what he’s done today. He’s gone to another level and really sustained a good gallop throughout. I thought before today that he was a good horse, but just off the better ones, but off the back of that, he might be right up there.”
So, do they back him up?
In an even year, Hayes left the door ajar.
“We’ll keep the option open next week as he did win with head on his chest there, but there’s plenty of options going ahead with this horse. It’s very exciting.”
History suggests it is no straightforward task. Ingratiating and Tentyris both won the Talindert before contesting the Diamond, but Tentyris did so at his second start and Ingratiating at his fourth. Neither was able to win.
Star Witness remains the last to complete the Talindert-Blue Diamond double, albeit with the Talindert run at the end of January, so it was a totally different scenario.
Hard Kick would be attempting something sharper. Something bolder.
Yet on what we saw at Flemington, he has earned the conversation. He was strong through the line. He relished the contest. He was dominant.
Backing up in a Blue Diamond at start two would be quite something. But he’s in the right camp and it looks an even year.
After Saturday, it no longer feels impossible.
