Patrick Moloney ends tough season with double at Sandown

After 4½ months out of the saddle with injury, jockey Patrick Moloney is fit and firing with the spring carnival around the corner.

Jockey Patrick Moloney finished a tough season in winning form with a midweek double at Sandown.

Moloney spent a lengthy period off the scene after breaking a collarbone and breaking bones in his hand, which required multiple operations to repair, in a jumpout fall in October last year.

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Moloney said the fall and recovery period cost him the chance to ride lightweight hopes in big races last spring, denying him a crack at improving on his Melbourne Cup second on Emissary in 2022.

However, Moloney said he was in perfect condition to chase lightweight rides in the spring to make up for lost opportunities.

Patrick Moloney rides Winchester to victory on his way to a double at Sandown. Picture: Pat Scala/Racing Photos via Getty Images

“I spent 4½ months out of the saddle with injury so I missed the spring and missed out on lightweight opportunities,” Moloney said.

“I’m fit and firing at the right time now.

“I’m hoping it’s going to springboard into good opportunities in the spring.

“That’s my bread and butter and I seem to show up on the roughies.”

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Moloney started the day with a win aboard the Hawkes Racing-trained Winchester in the Photo Finish Refund Handicap (1000m)

Winchester finished midfield on debut at Flemington in February but had worked well at Michael, Wayne and John Hawkes’ Sydney stable before the gelding’s successful return to racing.

Winchester's race experience makes the difference 🤝

The son of Deep Field was perfectly rated by @pattymoloney & won accordingly.

@HawkesRacingpic.twitter.com/uc1P3wmIS9

— Racing.com (@Racing) July 31, 2024

“He gave me the feel like there was plenty of improvement in him,” Moloney said.

“He’s still the raw product and I think he had a few gears up his sleeve as he did it with his ears pricked in the last 100 or 200m.

“The Hawkes team are master trainers, master conditioners of horses, and they will get the best out of him.”

Moloney completed his double strike aboard Charisse for his father Gerard in the Stow Storage Solutions Handicap (1300m).

Originally published as Patrick Moloney ends tough season with double at Sandown