The Ben, Will & JD Hayes stable has become one of Australia’s premier stables since stepping out of father David's shadow.

Lindsay Park boasts magnificent Group 1 winning horses such as Mr Brightside, Here To Shock and War Machine.

As the Autumn Racing Carnival approaches, JD Hayes believes that their stable will present a new star, who is “ready to make a statement”.

That horse is Touchdown.

Touchdown is a four-year-old Almanzor gelding with four wins from six starts including three on the trot.

His last start was on December 20 when he lobbed on the Caulfield Heath track and he will be back in action over a mile at Caulfield on Saturday.

Speaking on SENTrack & RSN’s Giddy Up, JD explained why he is most excited to see Touchdown at the races across the remainder of summer and the upcoming autumn.

“Touchdown (is the horse I’m most looking forward to),” Hayes said.

“I think he's done well in between runs, even though it wasn't manufactured for the fires.

“It's gonna be interesting to see how he returns on the weekend.

“I think he's ready to make a statement.”

Hayes also provided an update on other stable stars including Mr Brightside, War Machine and Eurocanto.

Mr Brightside

“He is ticking every box that we've wanted to see,” Hayes stated.

“He's about to be released out into a big paddock - he'll appreciate that.

“We'll make sure that he's not going to put on too much weight because he might have to go on Jenny Craig.

“He's going to have six weeks out in the paddock and then have a month on the water walker - that'll bring us to about mid-April and we'll set our sights for a big spring."

War Machine

War Machine is resuming this Friday at Pakenham in the Australia Stakes (1200m), marking his first start since his unplaced run in the Russell Balding Stakes (1300m) in November.

Hayes believes that the gelding has come back well from his spell and is hoping that his short price in the market is justified.

“He's come back well, his trials have been good,” Hayes revealed.

“He'll take plenty of improvement out of the first-up run.

“It looks like a small field, and he's short in the market, so hopefully the market is correct."

Last spring, the five-year-old was raced as a sprinter, most notably running in The Everest (1200m), but this Autumn Carnival, the Hayes stable wants to transform the bay into a miler.

“We've always thought that he might be able to get out over a mile, especially the way (he won) in the Stradbroke (1400m)," Hayes stated.

“We've got our eye on The All-Star Mile, and a few options after that as well. Hopefully he’s got about four or five Grand Finals (in the autumn) but that’ll be the first one.

“He's a horse that we're looking forward to kicking off because we think he's got a big autumn in him.”

Eurocanto

Similar to War Machine, Hayes’ two-year-old gun Eurocanto is resuming this week, except on Saturday at Caulfield in the Blue Diamond Preview (1000m).

The colt by Per Incanto is one start from one victory, and will have a partnership with star jockey Mark Zahra throughout the Autumn Carnival.

However, Zahra won’t be able to ride the brown on Saturday due to an injury.

Hayes jokingly stated that he hopes the hoop will be feeling bad about missing that ride at Caulfield on Saturday because the colt looks primed for victory.

“Hopefully Zahra's feeling it in the hip pocket after the weekend because I think he's come back super,” Hayes said.

“He's come back really well and I’m expecting him to be quite hard to beat first-up.

“Jamie Melham’s got the reins (on Saturday).

“At this stage he'd have to be leading the charge (for our stables best two-year-old).”