Who's under the spotlight this week?

The licence: Colin Hayes took out his trainer's licence in Adelaide in 1947 and trained his first winner, Surefoot, at Strathalbyn that October for $190. He established Lindsay Park at Angaston in the Barossa Valley in 1965 and trained from there from 1970 — a property he built into one of the most successful training and breeding operations in the world. In a 43-year career he trained 5,333 winners including 524 Group or Listed winners, two Melbourne Cups (Beldale Ball 1980, At Talaq 1986) and 13 Melbourne trainers' premierships in succession from 1978 to 1990. He retired in 1990 and was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame in 2001.

The father: David Hayes took the licence at 28, for the 1990-91 season. His first spring produced the Cox Plate and the Japan Cup with Better Loosen Up; the Melbourne Cup came with Jeune in 1994; and by the end of 1994-95 he had won every Melbourne and Adelaide metropolitan premiership, with 31 Group 1 winners. He went to Hong Kong in 1996, won two premierships there and 458 races, returned to Lindsay Park in 2005 and added another 40 Group 1 winners. His own tally is 95 Group 1 wins across Australia, Hong Kong and Japan, and he was the youngest trainer ever inducted into the Hall of Fame, in 2008.

The handover: Ben joined his father and cousin Tom Dabernig in the partnership on 1 August 2016. When David went back to Hong Kong in 2020, Ben and Dabernig took the stable on 10 July; Dabernig left for Warrnambool in mid-2021; and on 21 June 2021 Ben and JD took the licence together, with JD's twin Will joining in August 2023. It was not a soft landing — one of their biggest owners, Sheikh Hamdan, died within months of David leaving and the Shadwell horses went with him. In the first full season together, 2021/22, they trained 117 winners and one Group 1.

The horse: Mr Brightside is the one that made the three brothers' name work. He has now won 10 Group 1 races and about $18.7 million — the Doncaster Mile twice, the Memsie, the Champions Mile, and three straight Makybe Diva Stakes, a race no horse had won three times before. He was the trio's first Group 1 together, and he was beaten a whisker by Romantic Warrior in the 2023 Cox Plate.

This spring: On 7 November they won about $1.93 million in stakes out of Sydney in one afternoon: Evaporate took the $2 million Five Diamonds and Act Up the $1 million Golden Gift at Rosehill, Plymouth ran third in the Five Diamonds, and Soldi won the Inglis Banner at Flemington the same day. Last season they were Victoria's leading stable — 253½ winners Australia-wide, up from 199, and 240 in Victoria — though in the metropolitan count Ciaron Maher beat them 113 to 69, from 300 fewer Melbourne starters for Lindsay Park.

Last week: Eight winners from 39 runners at 20.5% — Harbour Town, She's Astunnerarch, Press Jonkit and Hello Romeo at Pakenham; Molesworth and A Stern Angel at Mornington; Resonant and Sea Poem at Geelong. Celine Gaudray rode three of them, Jake Radley three, and Declan Bates and Nathan Daniels one each.

• 1947 — Colin Hayes takes out his licence in Adelaide · first winner Surefoot, Strathalbyn, 15 October
• 1965 — Lindsay Park established at Angaston in the Barossa Valley; Colin trains from there from 1970
• 1978–1990 — 13 Melbourne trainers' premierships in succession · two Melbourne Cups (Beldale Ball 1980, At Talaq 1986) · 5,333 winners and 524 Group or Listed races — retired 1990, Hall of Fame 2001
• 1990 — David takes over at 28 · Cox Plate and Japan Cup with Better Loosen Up in his first spring
• 1994 — Melbourne Cup (Jeune) · every Melbourne and Adelaide metropolitan premiership by the end of 1994-95, with 31 Group 1 wins
• 1996 — David to Hong Kong: two premierships and 458 winners in Hong Kong · back at Lindsay Park in 2005, another 40 Group 1 winners — 95 in all
• 2016 — Ben Hayes joins David and Tom Dabernig in the partnership (1 August)
• 2020 — David returns to Hong Kong · Ben and Dabernig take the licence on 10 July · Dabernig leaves in mid-2021, and Sheikh Hamdan's death takes the Shadwell horses
• 2021 — Ben and JD form the partnership on 21 June · 2023 — Will joins in August: the three brothers
• 2024/25 — Victoria's leading stable: 253½ winners Australia-wide, 240 in Victoria
• 2026 — 7 November: Five Diamonds (Evaporate), Golden Gift (Act Up) and Inglis Banner (Soldi) — about $1.93m in stakes in one afternoon
• Week to 15 November — 8 winners from 39 runners at 20.5%, at Pakenham, Mornington and Geelong

The beginning: He is the son of Jason Thompson, a champion greyhound trainer who has won three Melbourne Cups on the dogs — Ben strapped one of them, Got A Moment, in 2012. He first got on a horse at 15 in 2012, began riding races in 2014, was apprenticed to Mick Kent at Cranbourne and then to Allan Williams, Craig Williams' father, and rode more than 50 winners in his first full season across Victoria and NSW.

The Cup: His first black-type win came on First Course in the 2016 Sale Cup; weeks later he was the lone apprentice in the Melbourne Cup, riding the outsider Rose Of Virginia at 19. She finished last of 24.

The move north: He shifted to Queensland in 2020 and rode 93 metropolitan winners in 2022/23, finishing second in the Brisbane jockeys' premiership behind Jimmy Orman. That was the season he became a Group 1 rider.

The Group 1: Uncommon James in the Oakleigh Plate at Sandown in February 2023 — trained by Matt Hoysted, and still, on the racing press's count, his only win at the top level. The horse was retired after winning the Moreton Cup in the winter of 2026, and Thompson called that win the highlight of his winter.

Hong Kong: He spent 18 months riding at Sha Tin, starting in early 2024. His first winner there took 48 rides — Courier Magic in March — and he finished his first season with seven.

The premiership: 2025/26 was the season it all landed: 99.5 city winners and his first Brisbane metropolitan jockeys' premiership, the Queensland state title with it, and the George Moore Queensland Jockey of the Year award. He had more metropolitan rides than any other rider in Australia that season.

This season: He has started 2026/27 the same way. To 16 November he leads the Australian jockeys' premiership — 69 winners at 24.6% from 280 rides, ahead of William Pike and Zac Lloyd. Last week: five winners from sixteen rides at the tracks we cover, four of them at Doomben on Saturday — The Grey One, Toro Strike, Cardonette and All Kinds Of Folk — plus Hit The Switch at Eagle Farm on the Wednesday.

• 2012 — first on a horse at 15 · straps his father's Melbourne Cup-winning greyhound Got A Moment
• 2014 — begins riding races · apprenticed to Mick Kent at Cranbourne, later to Allan Williams
• 2016 — first black type, First Course, Sale Cup · Melbourne Cup ride on Rose Of Virginia at 19
• 2020 — moves to Queensland
• 2022/23 — 93 metropolitan winners, second in the Brisbane jockeys' premiership
• 2023 — first Group 1: Uncommon James, Oakleigh Plate, Sandown (February)
• 2024 — Hong Kong: first winner Courier Magic at Sha Tin in March, after 48 rides · seven winners in his first season there, 18 months in all
• 2025/26 — first Brisbane metropolitan jockeys' premiership with 99.5 winners · Queensland state title · George Moore Queensland Jockey of the Year · most metropolitan rides of any rider in Australia
• 2026/27 — leads the Australian jockeys' premiership to 16 November: 69 winners at 24.6% from 280 rides
• Week to 15 November — four winners at Doomben on Saturday, one at Eagle Farm on the Wednesday