Champion jockey Craig Williams has achieved his sixth win in the prestigious Scobie Breasley Medal, recognising outstanding riding in Victoria.
Williams’ achievement comes two decades after his initial award in 2006, followed by subsequent victories in 2007, 2008, and 2009. His last Scobie Breasley Medal win was in 2017.
The Scobie Breasley Medal is voted on by Racing Victoria stewards, who assign points on a 3-2-1 basis at all Victorian metropolitan race meetings throughout the season.
With one month left in the competition, Williams trailed runner-up Jamie Mott by a single vote. He secured the medal by accumulating 11 votes in July, finishing five ahead of Mott with a final tally of 52 to 47.
Damian Lane, who rode internationally for parts of the season, finished third with 37 votes. Daniel Stackhouse was next with 31, and apprentice Luke Cartwright rounded out the top five with 29 votes.
Williams was also named the leading Victorian metropolitan winner for the 2024-25 season, with 65 victories to his name.
Half Yours, the Caulfield and Melbourne Cup winner, was voted the Victorian Racehorse of the Year by a panel of racing officials, journalists, and broadcasters.
The Tony and Calvin McEvoy-trained stayer Half Yours finished ahead of Cox Plate heroine Via Sistina and the Godolphin-owned pair Tentyris and Observer.
The McEvoy father-and-son training partnership also secured the Most Outstanding Training Performance award for their Cups double success. They prepared Half Yours to become the 13th horse to win the double, surpassing Cindy Alderson for her efforts with Jigsaw, who won seven of its eight starts that season, including races in Victoria, New Zealand, and Western Australia.
Calvin McEvoy received the Colin Alderson Rising Star Award, which honours a Victorian licensed trainer under 40 years of age whose career is on an upward trajectory.
Praised for his professionalism and media engagement, Calvin McEvoy played a pivotal role in the family stable preparing 91 winners nationally, including seven Stakes winners, at a strike rate of 18%.
Jamie Mott and Logan Bates collected the two peer-voted awards: the Victorian Jockeys’ Association’s Damien Oliver Most Valuable Jockey and the VJA Rising Star, as determined by their fellow jockeys.
These honours capped a significant season for both riders. Bates achieved his maiden Group 1 success, while Mott posted a career-best number of winners to claim his first Victorian Jockeys’ Premiership with 128 victories.
Cartwright was recognised for his breakout season, which included 70 wins and a maiden Stakes success. He took home both the Victorian Apprentice Jockeys’ Premiership and the Metropolitan Apprentice Jockeys’ Premiership for the first time.
The Tommy Corrigan Medal, voted on by RV Stewards for the best rides at every jumps meeting, also saw a first-time winner in Dean Parker, in his second full season since relocating from New Zealand.
Ciaron Maher continued his dominance of the Metropolitan Trainers’ Premiership, earning the Fred Hoysted Medal for the sixth successive year. Maher also won the Victorian Trainers’ Premiership, concluding a memorable 2024-25 season that produced 220 winners across the state, headlined by Group 1 successes with Observer, Pride Of Jenni, Jimmysstar, and Light Infantry Man. Consider the betting markets for the race.
