Racing Post's Whitaker and McCann shortlisted for photographer of the year

The Racing Post's Edward Whitaker is in the running to be crowned HWPA racing photographer of the year for a remarkable tenth time, it was revealed on Thursday.

And his Irish-based colleague Patrick McCann has been shortlisted for that prize and for picture of the year.

The judges were impressed by Whitaker's "whimsical study of a bird’s eye view of the action" in portraying Mishriff winning at York, among "'a well-rounded entry".

Mishriff: 'A whimsical study of a bird's eye view of the action'Credit: Edward Whitaker

Whitaker, currently in California for the Breeders' Cup, won the title in 1999, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2019.

McCann won picture of the year in 2016 and 2019 and the panel said of his 2021 submission, a shot taken from underneath the ironless Hugh Morgan on Young Dev at Navan, "a gamble has been taken with a remote at an unusual angle and it really pays off".

'A gamble has been taken with a remote at an unusual angle and it really pays off'Credit: Patrick McCann

McCann's entry for photographer of the year includes a picture of jockey Donagh Meyler in a lift at Limerick, and the judges called his collection "a really well chosen portfolio, hard to fault, with the jockey in the lift an off-stage moment perfectly captured".

Also shortlisted for photographer of the year are Tim Goode and Hugh Routledge, while Dan Abraham, Francesca Altoft and Matthew Webb are on the shortlist for picture of the year.

The winners will be announced at the HWPA Derby Awards, supported by the Hong Kong Jockey Club, Coral and Vertem Asset Management, at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London on December 6.

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