Harsh or fair? Hawkes lets rip at Lloyd over ‘shocker’ ride

It’s fair to say trainer Wayne Hawkes ain’t happy with jockey Zac Lloyd.

The hoop was aboard the Hawkes’ trained Briasa on Saturday in the All Aged Stakes, finishing fourth after jumping an $18 chance.

Hawkes let rip on his weekly SEN Track show on Monday, highly critical of Lloyd’s tactics. The young gun has already picked up two Group 1s this year, including the Golden Slipper.

Hawkes revealed he was upset that Lloyd did not make the most of Briasa jumping well, wanting him to sit outside the leader.

‘’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 conceded there were no instructions given to Lloyd pre-race, but said it was ‘’very frustrating’’.

‘’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’s Gareth Hall, who at one stage said Hawkes was being harsh on Lloyd, said the jockey may have been trying to avoid being caught wide if he were to press up to try an cross runners underneath.

‘’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.’’

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