Waterhouse v Hayes shootout fuels Caulfield test The battle of the training tracks - private versus public, city against country - will be put to the test by two racing dynasties, Waterhouse and Hayes, in Saturday's Caulfield Cup. Philosophies, too, by great trainers will be put to the test. Gai Waterhouse has two imports, Glencadam Gold and Julienas, prepared to warhorse-pitch for the 2400m staying test, while David Hayes is represented by Jet Away, another from abroad, which has had a light campaign but the benefit of a great outdoors conditioning operation at Euroa in Victoria. City life: Randwick-based Gai Waterhouse surveys workouts at Flemington this week. She saddles up Glencadam Gold and Julienas. "Underperformed" is how Rob Waterhouse, husband of Gai, describes country set-ups compared with city courses for preparation. "I concede this is an unashamed advertorial for my dear wife, Gai, but I say private training tracks are a myth," Waterhouse wrote in the second issue of the Gai's Gazette. We'll try to add some balance for the country. The Waterhouse view was introduced to him by his father-in-law, the late Tommy Smith, who figured Randwick, even when potholed and with a crossing noted for slipping and sliding during gallops, was god's little acre. "Private training tracks would appear to have lots of advantages, like being able to train all day, no pressure, everything as a trainer wants it," Waterhouse wrote. Moreover, private training is totally the norm in Europe in general and England in particular. Works well there. I remember putting the private track argument to Gai's dad, Tommy Smith, 35 years ago. 'They are all failures', he said. They pour fortunes into them. All do no good. 'I chose 16 Bowral Street [Kensington] not because Phar Lap had been stabled there but because the stable is beside a noisy school with bells ringing and kids shouting. Good for racehorses. Prepares them for race day. I can imagine Smith saying it. He was not only the master of Tulloch Lodge but also renowned for being able to turn any situation to his advantage with a flashing "look at the scoreboard" (i.e. premierships and group 1s) smile. Waterhouse gets coy about Melbourne maestro Lloyd Williams, who has an equine heaven at Mount Macedon in Victoria. Williams, he regards, is an "arguable exception." The mammoth collector of European bluebloods will be batting for the country with the colonial-bred Fawkner, in the Caulfield Cup. Waterhouse produced three main parameters to support his argument: prizemoney, better average prizemoney each runner, median class and win or loss from backing them. Two-year-olds racing with his wife was a "deafening victory" for public training facilities. "You only have to look at Gai-made stallions such as Pierro to realise that's where the money is," Waterhouse wrote. Punting, too, was clear winner in the city. "In the past there have been many private-track trainers who have underperformed," Waterhouse wrote. Just a few years ago a Hall Of Fame Victorian trainer moved to his private training track and failed. His brother took over but that was back at Caulfield. Wasn't Makybe Diva prepared at Rye for at least one of her Melbourne Cup successes? About 15 years ago a leading Brisbane trainer went to his own facilities with poor results ... The Caulfield Cup tally stands at two for Hayes, Waterhouse one. George Hanlon, who did his fine-tuning in a cow paddock out Geelong way, scored with Diatribe in 2000. Sitting alongside Hanlon as he drove an old truck within shouting distance of his cup candidate in work, telling the rider how fast he was going, to increase or slacken off the tempo, was one of my great experiences. Perhaps Hayes has only been training at Euroa after his father established one of the finest equine operations, Lindsay Park, at Angaston in South Australia. The Waterhouse term "myth" isn't out of place regarding Lindsay Park. "I've just arrived at Lindsay Park, Hayes' Camelot world in the Barossa Valley," - wordsmith and turf enthusiast Les Carlyon wrote in True Grit. Lindsay Park though is simply about making horses happy. CS maintained 'it's sensitivity to the animal, that's what it's all about'. Hayes began training at Lindsay Park in 1970 and he perhaps took another decade to lay the place out exactly as he wanted it. His success from Angaston has been documented often enough but one statistic is a revelation. Until 1980 Hayes had trained 3000 winners in 30 years, in the last decade he has trained 2300," Carlyon wrote. Alas, city trainer Chris Waller doesn't get a mention. The final point for Waterhouse? "Leading Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer early this year ordered all remote employees to revert to working at Yahoo offices because they just weren't as productive," he wrote. Perhaps it's the same with horses.