[2] Born in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada, Hayes was the son of a dairy farmer, and went on to become a prominent figure in harness racing and the first Canadian to be selected to the Little Brown Jug's Wall of Fame.
A longtime director of the Canadian Trotting Association, for ten years Hayes served as its president.
The Beejay Stable was a harness racing stable and breeding business owned by John Hayes as managing partner in a partnership formed in 1959 with Montreal's Shapiro brothers, Conrad, Leo, and Robert.
Among the horses owned by the partnership were Sharp 'n' Smart, Penn Hanover, Keystone Pat, Alley Fighter, and their most successful, the hall-of-fame pacer, Strike Out.
[3] Twenty-five years after the partnership was first formed, they established the Quarter Century Club as a vehicle for investments in various racing stock such as a share in sire Albatross and businesses including Castleton Farm and the Tattersalls Sales Company in Lexington, Kentucky.