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Master horseman Chris Waller looks to have a genuine 2026 Australian Guineas threat to hot favourite Observer following the impressive Group 3 $200,000 CS Hayes Stakes (1400m) win at Flemington on Saturday by his up-and-comer Sixties.

Following on from an eye-catching BM88 win at Rosehill fresh, Waller’s consistent Flying Artie colt Sixties backed it up with an excellent victory for the punters at HQ heading the 2026 CS Hayes Stakes results as the odds-on fancy.

Given a peach of a ride by the in-form Damian Lane who earlier saluted in the day’s feature claiming Group 1 Black Caviar Lightning glory on Tentyris, Sixties ($1.60F) handled his second-up assignment with aplomb beating Asakura by 1.25 lengths with Beyond Question third.

“I was hoping to find some cover, but I didn’t,” Lane admitted.

“I got flashed wide on the corner. I didn’t need my eye-in for that one. He had lengths on them.

“Full credit to him. He’s a lovely animal.”

Lane had Sixties posted wide throughout and fourth on the home straight before the class colt came with a huge run inside the final furlong to draw clear and claim his second Group 3 success following on from his Ming Dynasty victory over Autumn Boy in Sydney last September.

“He’s good. Not a lot of jockeys can sit three deep,” Waller’s stable rep Darren Beadman told Racing.com praising the ride by Lane.

“I know the horse probably had a little bit on them, but he just rides so smooth and he given his horse every chase.

“He gets them in a nice rhythm, breathing well and they don’t seem to be using excess energy throughout the race. It’s a difficult task to sit three-wide here from 1400 (metres). You pretty much start on the circle and you’re turning the whole time.

“He had the audacity to show a nice turn of foot, pin his ears back. He’s an exciting galloper.

“I’m not surprised (by the ease of the win), because he is such a push-button type of horse.

“You could put a five-year-old kid on him to have a burn around on him. He’s a lovely horse, he’s got a lovely nature. He’s really a jockey’s dream to ride.”

The soft win saw Sixties book his ticket into the Group 1 $1 million Australian Guineas (1600m) back at the track on February 28 where he will come face-to-face with the VRC Derby winner Observer.

“More than likely (he’ll head to the Guineas),” Beadman confirmed.

“I think that is Chris’ short-term plan for him.

“Today was a bit of a test for him, this way of going on the circle.

“The Australian Guineas looks the ideal race for him.”

Observer, an excellent first-up winner of the Group 2 Autumn Stakes at Caulfield, sits top of the all-in Australian Guineas odds at $2.50 through Ladbrokes.com.au.

Sixties put his hand up as the key challenger in the CS Hayes and has subsequently had his all-in Australian Guineas price slashed into $4.

Alligator Blood (2020) was the last three-year-old to complete the CS Hayes Stakes / Australian Guineas double that Sixties will now attempt to repeat.

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