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<\/p>\nDavid Hayes has revealed the full extent of the devastation suffered at his family\u2019s Lindsay Park property after making an emergency dash from Hong Kong to Australia to help battle bushfires that tore through Victoria.<\/p>\n
The veteran trainer returned to Hong Kong at 7am on race morning just hours after flames passed through the Euroa-based property, leaving seven horses dead and most of the stable\u2019s infrastructure destroyed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, we\u2019ve had a time with the fires \u2013 a really bad time,\u201d Hayes said after the Class 4 win of China Win in Hong Kong. \u201cI haven\u2019t slept for two and a half days.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hayes explained he had only just left Australia when he arrived back in Hong Kong, after spending more than two days fighting the fires alongside his wife Prue and their three sons \u2014 Ben, JD and Will.<\/p>\n
\u201cI arrived home here in Hong Kong at seven o\u2019clock this morning, I was still in Australia fighting fires,\u201d he said. \u201cWe lost 90 percent of our infrastructure. It was pretty horrific. We were looking after 320 horses with just four people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the scale of the blaze, Hayes said the family and staff managed to save the vast majority of the horses on the property, though seven did not survive.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe saved all the horses bar seven,\u201d he said. \u201cSeven didn\u2019t make it. The main stable is okay because we\u2019re surrounded by 100 acres of irrigation. We had the irrigation on and got as many horses inside as we could.<\/p>\n
\u201cJD and I had to go and catch the horses and bring them into the safe zone. It was really, really terrible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hayes described a confronting scene in the aftermath, with the fire burning through almost all paddocks and destroying fencing across the vast property.<\/p>\n
While the main stable complex survived, Hayes said the loss of fencing alone was immense.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s 1500 acres of fencing,\u201d he said. \u201cYou imagine all the fences \u2026 but the stables, (they\u2019re) okay.\u201d<\/p>\n
Once he knew the immediate danger had passed, Hayes boarded a flight back to Hong Kong to fulfil his training commitments.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I knew the fire had passed, I got on the plane,\u201d he said. \u201cI thought I\u2019d see China Win win today. It was a bad couple of days.\u201d<\/p>\n
Late Sunday, multiple fires were still burning out of control across Victoria, with hundreds of structures destroyed and communities continuing to assess the damage.<\/p>\n
The Hayes family later confirmed the seven horses lost included five spelling horses and two retirees, with one additional horse remaining in critical condition. They said 320 horses were saved through the combined efforts of family, staff and emergency services. \u220e<\/p>\n
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Adam Pengilly<\/p>\n
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