Hugh Fitzpatrick

Nov 18, 2024 | sen.com.au | Hugh Fitzpatrick

Leading trainer Wayne Hawkes believes the Thousand Guineas and the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes should move back to their original slot. Both Group 1 races were moved from their original position last year as part of Racing Victoria and Melbourne Racing Club’s bid to lengthen the spring carnival into November. Last Saturday saw 7,000 racegoers attend Caulfield’s meeting which is well down on previous meetings in which Group 1 races have been run.

Nov 15, 2024 | sen.com.au | Hugh Fitzpatrick

Triple-premiership forward Cameron Mooney is worried for Sydney after their second heavy Grand Final defeat in three years. The Swans went down in the 2024 decider against Brisbane by 60 points, just two years after being thrashed by Geelong in the 2022 Grand Final by 81 points. Mooney, who was on the receiving end of a Grand Final defeat to Hawthorn in 2008 by 26 points, thinks that much of how teams respond the following year is based on how well they competed on the last day of September.

Nov 8, 2024 | sen.com.au | Hugh Fitzpatrick

What will the Adelaide Crows do with Pick 4 in the upcoming National Draft and will they feel pressured to selection South Australian local Sid Draper? Draper is viewed as one of the 10 best players in what is a very even and talented draft class. It was reported by 7NEWS Adelaide in September that the teenager’s inner circle wasn’t particularly sure about being drafted by the Crows, hesitant about their treatment of young forward Josh Rachele.

Nov 4, 2024 | sen.com.au | Hugh Fitzpatrick

Knight’s Choice has won the 2024 Melbourne Cup. Ridden by Robbie Dolan, Knight’s Choice has claimed an epic edition of the race that stops the nation and he did at the huge price of $101. Trained by Sheila Laxon and John Symons, Laxon wins the Cup 23 years after becoming the first female trainer to do so back in 2001 with Ethereal. Laxon hasn’t had a runner in the race since that day and she now has two Cups to her name.

Oct 29, 2024 | sen.com.au | Hugh Fitzpatrick

Prominent European horse racing pundit Kevin Blake has launched a tirade on Racing Victoria (RV) follow Tuesday’s decision to scratch Jan Brueghel from this year's Melbourne Cup. RV vets made the call to rule the Aidan O’Brien-trained stayer out of the race after an issue arose in his pre-Melbourne Cup scans which were taken out at Werribee on Saturday. RV vets believed Jan Brueghel’s scans showed that the talented northern hemisphere three-year-old is “currently at heightened risk of injury”.