Black Caviar days behind Haydon as he chases Gympie success

By Glenn Davis

It will be a far cry from the Black Caviar days if local trainer Tony Haydon wins the Country Stampede qualifier with Hurricane Hall at Gympie on Saturday.

Gympie will host the seventh qualifying heat for the $105,000 Country Stampede Final over 1110 metres at Doomben in December.

Hurricane Hall – a Gabrielle Semmens mount – is a track specialist at Gympie winning three of his five starts and is in career-best form with three wins from his last four outings.

The five-year-old is coming off a last start win in a 1170 metre Benchmark 60 race at Gympie on September 16.

“I bought him for $800 as a yearling at an Inglis digital sale,” Haydon said.

“He should have run a lot better than fifth in the Muster Cup two runs back but he made up for it when he won last start at Gympie.

“He’s a very plain looking horse but he just loves the sand.

“This is his toughest test so far and coming back in distance is a worry.”

Haydon and his partner of 20 years Marni Kelly were part of the Black Caviar success story which saw the champion mare win 15 Group 1’s in her unbeaten 25 start career.

He also was involved with some of Australia's champion sprinters including former star General Nediym who won twice at Group 1 level in the Lightning and Newmarket Handicaps at Flemington in 1998 as well as the Magic Millions in 1997.

Haydon was an apprentice to the then Eagle Farm trainer Bill Mitchell and rode Group 1 winner Special Dane when he bolted in by 10 lengths for the late Darryl Gollan at her second race start at Toowoomba in December of 1996.

Special Dane went to win the Group 1 Orr Stakes in Melbourne two years later after being transferred to the now retired Brian Mayfield-Smith.

Haydon stayed on with Mitchell’s foreman Peter Moody who took over when the former Sydney trainer returned interstate.

He was a big part of Moody’s success in Melbourne when he was appointed to head up the stable’s Caulfield satellite barn.

“I travelled to England with Black Caviar when she won the Group 1 Diamond Jubilee at Royal Ascot in 2012,” Haydon said.

Haydon took a break from racing 10 years ago to start up a courier business in Townsville but the racing bug bit hard and he soon made a return.

“I left Caulfield in 2013 and for some reason I went to Townsville where I started running a courier business,” he said.

“But, I went back to watch track work at Cluden Park a few times and I got the bug to train again.

“It eventually got a bit too hard running the courier business and training so I decided to concentrate on training and moved to the Sunshine Coast before I moved to Gympie a year ago.”