Five minutes with.. Peter Fitzgerald

Peter Fitzgerald - Inglis

TDNAusNZ: Where are you from and what is your earliest racing memory?

PF: I’m from Wagga in country NSW. There is no industry-related background involved in my love of the sport, no trainers/jockeys in the family etc. Grandma – who lived with us for the last few years of her life (which doubled as the first few years of mine) in the early-mid 80s loved a small punt most of her life. That effectively got dad involved and that trickled down to me.

I don’t think I ever went to school on Melbourne Cup or Wagga Cup afternoons, so I’ve had the bug since I was four or five years old. I remember every Saturday after sport dad would take me to the races where ever they were in the Riverina – Wagga, Albury, Narranderra, Gundagai etc. There would be a local meeting on most Saturdays back in those days. When Sky Racing came into homes in 1998, that all changed and we’d do most of the watching from the couch, to mum’s disgust.

TDNAusNZ: What did you do before you started working at Inglis?

PF: I’ve got a sports media background. Directly before Inglis I had three years at The Daily Telegraph as deputy sports editor, prior to that I was sports editor of The Illawarra Mercury in Wollongong and before that I was a sports journalist at The Canberra Times.

I’ve been lucky to have loved basically every day of my working life. In Canberra I did stints as NRL reporter for two years and Super Rugby reporter for four seasons, so I got to travel Australia, NZ and South Africa to watch sport, and I was a racing writer the whole way through. My first Melbourne Cup for work was Makybe Diva’s third in 2005. It still remains one of the greatest sporting events I’ve ever witnessed live. It transcended racing.

TDNAusNZ: Do you have a nickname? How did it come about?

PF: Nothing alarming, just the usual suspects – Fitzy, Funk, Wagga. My family nickname was Fatty/Fatman/Rolly, which my siblings still call me today.

TDNAusNZ: Do you have a favourite book and/or movie?

PF: Aside from Best Bets? I’m not a big book or movie person to be honest but A Time To Kill, The Green Mile and Dumb And Dumber have all copped a solid workout over the years.

TDNAusNZ: What is your favourite day on the racecourse?

PF: Derby Day. From my early teenage days we used to have a father/son trip each year from Wagga to Melbourne, catch the train down on the Friday, do Flemington Saturday and go home on the Sunday. I’ve done the past 22 years in all different manners – many with dad and brothers/other relatives, a few years with mates and the bulk of the past 15 years through work.

Wagga Cup is still a favourite as well, and more recently Everest Day. The atmosphere walking into and around Randwick on Everest Day the past two years has been like nothing I’ve ever experienced on a racetrack. Also those smaller country Cups days when you’re on tour with mates – Darwin Cup, Broome Cup, Cairns Cup, Snake Gully Cup etc. are great fun.

TDNAusNZ: Could you tell us a little about what you do and what you love most about your job?

PF: When I was first hired as Media and PR Manager of Inglis three years ago, [Managing Director] Mark Webster had two over-arching KPIs for me – to get Inglis back into the mainstream media more frequently and to sell Riverside Stables to the world. The plan for both of those goals was simple; engage media and clients in the journey with us. From the last year at Newmarket in 2017 to the first year at Riverside in 2018, there were great stories to tell, I just needed to guide those stories to the right story tellers.

Along the way we have done many smaller things that have helped us achieve the larger goals - made changes to our social media strategies, changed how we do Inglis TV, worked hard on firstly forming or re-engaging and then maintaining strong relationships with key media stakeholders, worked closely with media on other racing matters, opened our doors to any and all requests, among others. I was told two key things a long time ago – it doesn’t cost anything to be nice, and the best form of PR is word of mouth. Being positive and engaging does wonders.

TDNAusNZ: Favourite horse/horses to sell through Inglis in your time with the company? Why?

PF: She Will Reign (Manhattan Rain) and Classique Legend (Not A Single Doubt), for different reasons. The Darby Racing team did wonders for our social media numbers when, early on in She Will Reign’s career, we realised any and all race day jubilation footage of them when the filly won a race was sending our numbers to a level never seen before! And when she won the Slipper, it was just a magical and memorable day for everyone involved and it’s hard not to feel a little involved with horses like her who capture the imagination of a nation, when you’re at the races each week, seeing the owners etc.

Gallery: She Will Reign's owners sent social media numbers to levels never seen before whenever she won

With Classique Legend, he topped our inaugural Gold Riband Session at the Classic Sale in 2017 (my first yearling sale with Inglis) and Linda Monds was so emotional that night, she knew he was a special animal and she was overwhelmed to offer the sale topper. It’s been awesome following his career on the track and seeing him progress to the top-class racehorse he’s becoming for Les Bridge, Carmel Size and Mr Ho.

TDNAusNZ: Who do you think is a rising star in the racing industry? (person, not horse)

PF: This is obviously biased – and generic – but the young (younger than me) guys in the Inglis bloodstock team do an amazing job. Led by Sebastian (Hutch) and Rusty (Chris Russell), the likes of Matt Scown, Brett Gilding, Harry Bailey, Will Stott, Morgan Thomas and Bryce Bevan are all destined for long and successful careers in the industry be it as agents, auctioneers or in management. They are great judges.

The recent racetrack success of Inglis graduates – Inglis has provided 88% more G1-winning graduates since the beginning of 2018 than any other Australian auction house, and 80% more 2YO G1 winners in that same period – are hard to ignore, and I’m of the belief that our bloodstock team should take some small amount of the credit for those statistics, as they’re the ones choosing between the thousands upon thousands of entries we receive each year for our sales.

TDNAusNZ: If you were an Everest slot holder, who would you pick?

PF: Obviously Inglis does own a slot, and we’ve gone with In Her Time (Time Thief) this year, as much as a show of support for part owner and major client Orbis Bloodstock as well as the genuine belief we believe Kris Lees can get her to peak on the day and bring the trophy home. Of the horses yet to be locked into a slot, I’d be taking Osborne Bulls (Street Cry {Ire}). And I’d be calling John Moore and trying to lock Aethero (Sebring) in for next year!

TDNAusNZ: What positive change would you like to see in the industry?

PF: More positive initiatives and interaction between the States, such as the MRC linking with the ATC for its Everest slot. Brilliant. Both NSW and Victoria are flying. What Peter V’landys has done for racing in NSW the past few years is genuinely mind blowing. And the Victorian industry is surging too – turnover is ever-increasing, the inaugural All Star Mile was a huge success, some exciting additions to the spring carnival, Saturday prizemoney at an all-time high etc. A bit more collaboration could do wonders.

TDNAusNZ: If you weren’t in the racing industry what would you be doing?

PF: I’d still be in sport one way or another, either back in the media or I’d love to be in a managerial role in a sporting organisation or team.