Training Facilities

It's a recipe for success - a training record second-to-none, proven methods at preparing thoroughbreds that have stood the test of time, and superior training facilities. This is an environment owners can trust when they send their racehorses to Hawkes Racing.

With world-class stables at Rosehill Gardens, home of Sydney's Golden Slipper, and famous Flemington where the Melbourne Cup is run, the training partnership of John Hawkes and his sons, Wayne and Michael, provides the best possible opportunity for racehorses to maximise their potential.

Team Hawkes has perfected the rare ability to transfer their racehorses seamlessly between states and have them perform at their optimum. This inexact science provides Hawkes Racing with a vital edge over their rivals as few trainers can match their success when switching racehorses between Sydney and Melbourne.

By having stables in both major cities, Hawkes Racing also gives their owners every chance to earn a share of the biggest prizemoney on offer in Australian racing. Hawkes Racing's two stables are within 60 minutes drive of most major racecourses in Sydney and Melbourne. It should be noted that races in the Sydney region at Rosehill, Royal Randwick, Warwick Farm, Canterbury, Hawkesbury, Gosford, Wyong and Kembla Grange, plus Melbourne's major racetracks of Flemington, Caulfield, Moonee Valley and Sandown account for nearly 40% of all prizemoney offered on Australian racecourses each year.

The advantages of having a two-state stable operation are numerous. It's a key part of Hawkes Racing's development for young horses to establish a comfortable, familiar environment for racehorses, enabling their gallopers to easily make the necessary transition between rest and exercise. Indeed, racehorses switching states feel equally at home at either Rosehill Gardens or Flemington as feed bins, hay racks and water facilities are the same at both stables, while the major ingredients for feed are also replicated in both locations.

The Rosehill Gardens and Flemington stables are equipped to cope with extreme weather conditions as they are well-ventilated with comfortable all-year round air temperature. Team Hawkes is convinced by having standard environments it can more easily identify behavioural changes for horses in both locations, quickly determine problems and capitalise on improvements.

In major spring and autumn campaigns, Hawkes Racing can transfer their gallopers from state to state without any disruption to their routines. Through extensive experience of managing Australia-wide stable networks, Hawkes Racing has long reaped the reward of standards across our stables, resulting in unrivalled success.

Familiar Environment

This is an important, if under-valued component when it comes to preparing racehorses. In recent years, the best public example of successful horse travelling was exhibited with the Melbourne Cup quinella of Japanese gallopers Delta Blues and Pop Rock.

There had been several previously unsuccessful attempts by Japanese trainers to compete in the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups. The Japanese gallopers had been accustomed to a diet of mashed soy bean but quarantine restrictions prevent importation of this feed to Australia. Prior to 2006, the Japanese handlers had struggled to keep their horses eating after arriving in Melbourne so by Cup Day, the horses, energy levels depleted, performed poorly.

In 2006, trainer Katsuhiko Sumii imported Australian feed to Japan, so that both Delta Blues and Pop Rock became accustomed to the feed for six months before travelling to Australia. Sumii used the Australian feed throughout their preparation in both countries, the horses thrived in Australia and he returned to Japan with the bulk of the $5.1 million prizemoney pool from the 2006 Melbourne Cup.

Rosehill

Hawkes Racing has stabling facilities at Rosehill that are world class. The temperature is ideal all year round and horses relax easily.

The training surfaces at Rosehill provide the variety necessary to ensure each galloper in the Hawkes stable has a suitable training surface. The tracks are:

• Course Proper (2,048m by 30m)
• Inside Grass (1,538m x 27m)
• Sand Track (1,712m x 6m)
• Cinders Track (1,357 x 7m)
• Pro-Track (1,436m x 7m)

Other facilities include a swimming pool and a walker machine and Hawkes Racing makes frequent use of weekly jump-outs and fortnightly barrier trials

Flemington

The Hawkes stable has had a presence at Flemington for almost 20 years. It's proven an important launching pad for many of the stable's major winners at the Melbourne Spring and Autumn racing carnivals.

Flemington provides training facilities that are second-to-none with large, modern stable boxes and swimming facilities.

There are unofficial barrier trials conducted at Flemington every Friday and jump outs for two year olds every Thursday.

The training surfaces at Flemington are diverse and well maintained. They include:

• Course Proper (2,312m x 30m with 450m straight)
• Course Proper - Straight Six (1,200 x 30m)
• Steeple Grass (2,029m x 13m)
• Inside Grass (1,600 x 20m)
• Viscoride (2,100 x 7.5m)
• American Dirt (2,200 x 15m)
• Sand (A) (1,400 x 15m)
• Sand (B) (1,300 x 5m)
• Trotting Track