Melbourne Cup-winning trainer David Hayes. ‘If you are buying property and can afford to hold on to it, it’s not a gamble’. Picture: Wayne Ludbey. Source: News Corp Australia

What was your first job?

Working for my father in the stables on the school holidays, I was about 12. I love it, and anyway Dad didn’t really about believe in holidays.

What did you learn about money growing up?

Not to spend more than you’ve got. I have (done that) generally.

You have trained horses for some ultra-wealthy people, and moved to Hong Kong for a decade not long after winning the Melbourne Cup in 1999. What did you learn about money from these people?

All of them at one stage have taken a big gamble in their lives to make their money — whether it was calculated or not. And if they are ultra-wealthy, they have either had a tonne of luck and an ounce of judgment or an ounce of luck and a tonne of judgment.

But the person I learned most from was my father. I’ve made most money doing what I do.

How do you invest outside your business?

These days I much prefer to ­invest in my core business rather than anywhere else.

I have invested in a lot of different things outside my core business, often with friends. But it’s only property that really paid off, and by training horses, and buying and selling horses.

But it’s taken me a while to learn this.

If you are buying property and can afford to hold on to it, it’s not a gamble. The properties I buy, I can afford. We have our freehold ­family home and a couple of other investment properties that give me a nice rental earning.

Did the fires that burnt around and on the fringes of Lindsay Park in Euroa last year make you worry about your ­investment?

Not really, you worry at the time, but we have the right amount of insurance, we were prepared.

It cost you $20 million to build Lindsay Park in Euroa, but you did it without yet having sold your Barossa Park property. You have said the banks were breathing down your neck? How hard was it?

I decided to sell the family property (in South Australia) to start up a mirror copy — a new Victorian version. But then the world crumbled a bit — I put the property on the market during the GFC, so instead of taking one year to sell it took four. 
So I was bridging, but I didn’t want to be a forced seller. Thankfully Mr Pan (Pan Sutong, chairman of Goldin Group) came and bought Lindsay Park and we were able to wipe the slate clean.

But it was always worth more than the banks said — I changed banks through it all, because I wasn’t happy with the deal I was getting, (my previous bank) didn’t want to wait. But NAB was fantastic and I’m still with them now.

It wasn’t the first time you have had significant debts. Many people wouldn’t be able to cope with the pressure. Tell me about your approach to debt and when you take it on and when you don’t?

(My first big debt was) when I was 26. It was a family debt — I had an agreement to buy my ­family out of the business — (I needed) $8m-9m. I really wanted to do it, but with interest rates and tax it was going to take a long time (to pay back the loan), so I moved to Hong Kong to earn it. I had had a record year here (Hayes had just won the Melbourne Cup with Jeune in 1994), but I decided to go to Hong Kong, even though many people here couldn’t understand it. But I had an opportunity, and by going, I was investing in my core business.

Do you have the same appetite for risk in other investments?

No, not at all. I had an appetite for it and invested with friends. While they are still are friends — I am not very good at investing outside my business.

What have been your best and worst investments?

Best investment — my home in Toorak, while going to Hong Kong was a great investment in myself.

My worst was Western Desert mining shares, which went broke (it collapsed in 2014 as the iron ore price plummeted). And I invested as a seed investor in a fuel cell ­battery — like all venture capital projects it sounded good at the time but the pitch was better than the result. It never got off the ground.

Would you do it any differently if you had the chance?

I would just stick to what I know, and stick to nice conservative property plays.

What are your expectations for the Spring Racing Carnival?

Fingers crossed I’ve got good chances with Criterion in the Cox Plate and Rising Romance in the Caulfield Cup.