Co. Limerick-born jockey rode his first winner, Anonymity, trained by Ger Lynch, in a maiden handicap at Bellewstown on July 2, 2004, while apprenticed to Kevin Prendergast, and went on to become Irish champion apprentice in 2005, 2006 and 2007. He has since enjoyed profitable associations not only with Prendergast, but also with James ‘Fozzy’ Stack, son of Tommy Stack and, more recently, with Dermot Weld.
As far as winners at the highest level are concerned, readers unfamiliar with the Irish Flat racing scene may be surprised to learn that Hayes has already ridden ten, all bar one of which were on home soil. The first of them arrived on September 7, 2013, when La Collina, trained by Prendergast, belied odds of 25/1 by staying on well to lead close home in the Matron Stakes at Leopardstown. In the style of London buses, the second turned up just eight days later, when Voleuse De Coeurs, trained by Weld, won the Irish St. Leger at the Curragh by six lengths, eased down.
Hayes had to wait a little longer to his third Group 1 winner, Atwaad, trained by Prendergast, in the Irish 2,000 Guineas at the Curragh on May 21, 2016, and his fourth, Search For A Song, trained by Weld, in the Irish St. Leger, again, on September 15, 2019. Thereafter, though, he has increased his Group 1 winning tally at regular intervals, not least through his association with the very smart filly Tahiyra, trained by Weld, who has tasted defeat just once in her six-race career. The daughter of Siyouni, who also sired St. Mark’s Basilica and Sottsass, won the Moyglare Stud Stakes at the Curragh as a juvenile and, although narrowly beaten in the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket, has since won the Irish equivalent at the Curragh, the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot and the aforementioned Matron Stakes.