As the 2024/25 racing season runs out the clock, it is time for Run The Numbers’ second annual Australian racing’s most improved awards, where we look at which trainers, jockeys and sires have improved their performance the most on the previous season.
Lindsay Park is enjoying its most successful Australian racing season since 2018/19, with the trio of Hayes brothers recently surpassing 250 wins for the campaign.
That is more than twice the number of winners the stable notched (117) in 2021/22, the first year after patriarch David left to return to Hong Kong, with the number of starters since then jumping from 942 to 1572. Most significantly, the prize money banked has jumped from $8.4 million three years ago to $23.5 million.
Given those details, it won’t surprise that Ben, Will and JD Hayes are the most improved stable in the country when it comes to additional wins compared to last season. In 2023/24 they had 199 wins, while with only a few days remaining of this campaign, they are up to 253, a net gain of 54.
Further down the line, they have had 39 more seconds and 38 more thirds, with 331 additional starters, the largest growth of any stable. That greater scale saw them rewarded with over $6.3 million in additional prize money.
Second on the net win improvement list is Bjorn Baker, who has had a career-best season with 156 winners, 52 more than he compiled last season. His success was achieved without significant additional scale, with just 86 more runners this year than last.
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