Trainer Wayne Hawkes has delivered a blunt assessment of Zac Lloyd’s ride aboard Briasa following the colt’s fourth placing in the All Aged Stakes at Randwick on Saturday.
Sent out at $18 with bookmakers, Briasa jumped cleanly but settled off the pace, a tactic Hawkes believes cost the horse a better finishing position in the Group 1 feature.
BEIWACHT wins the G1 All Aged Stakes, meaning Nash Rawiller joins Damien Oliver, Jim Cassidy, Athol Mulley and Jim Pike in winning the race across three separate decades! 💙@nashhot won on Bentley Biscuit in 2007 and Hana's Goal in 2014 🥇🥇🥇#WorldPool pic.twitter.com/1BX90oiZxh
— World Pool (@WorldPool) April 18, 2026
Speaking on his weekly SEN Track program, Hawkes was highly critical of the decisions made in the early stages of the race.
Briasa’s trainer Wayne Hawkes is not happy with Zac Lloyd’s ride on his horse in the Group 1 All Aged Stakes.
Briasa came fourth.@bet365_aus | @SENGiddyUp | @ghall27 | @HawkesRacing pic.twitter.com/seOKvdqjPn
— SENTrack (@SEN_track) April 20, 2026
‘’Mate, what were you thinking? You jumped so good and so clean. You jumped clear of every horse and then you’ve just gone and just said, well, I’ll just take a little sit here,’’ he said.
‘’You waited for old mate on your inside to come up inside here, and then you sat there.
”Then, you came back and you were sort of half getting a bit of cover. Why wouldn’t you go out and sit outside the leader? Zac’s ridden this horse twice, and he got Briasa beat when he was on his winning roll of being undefeated.
‘’That was the first time he got beaten, and he actually rode the horse the same way that day as what he did last Saturday. Now I’m not saying that we win, but I’ll tell you what we’ve run fourth gotten beaten, what, about a length?
”He definitely would have run a place. So, for all those people that want that backed him each way, mate, the best thing is to go and look at the replay. And, the overhead shot is such a great thing when you are jumping at the barriers because you can see how they actually jump out the gates.
‘’And mate, it was just a shocker to watch that.
‘’The first hundred yards of just in theory handing up and not going forward. I don’t know what he was thinking.’’
Hawkes acknowledged that no firm riding instructions had been issued prior to the race but admitted the outcome was frustrating given the horse’s recent consistency.
‘’We’ve had a shocking run with this horse this time in because he’s drawn the bad barriers week after week after week, and he’s nearly won a Galaxy,’’ Hakes said.
‘’He didn’t handle the wet track of the TJ, and he smoked up in the TJ to let rip, and Tyler [Schiller] said he just didn’t let rip, and then he’s got beat a length in the All Aged.’’
SEN host Gareth Hall suggested Lloyd may have been attempting to avoid being caught wide early, a view Hawkes pushed back on strongly.
‘’But .. if they kick up and they do that right, which which they could have … then Zac can’t do anything about it. So admittedly, he said after the race, “That’s what I didn’t want to do’’ but how did it work for you jumping and grabbing a hold?’’ Hakes said.
‘’He was the first horse out the barriers, and as I said, watch the race in New South Wales replay. The replay doesn’t lie.’’
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