Craig Williams claims sixth Scobie Breasley Medal honour

Esteemed jockey Craig Williams has secured his sixth Scobie Breasley Medal, a prestigious award for riding excellence in Victoria.

This latest win for Williams comes exactly two decades after he first claimed the award in 2006. He went on to replicate this success in 2007, 2008, and 2009. The jockey's most recent Scobie Breasley Medal victory was in 2017.

The Scobie Breasley Medal is determined by votes cast by Racing Victoria stewards, who award points on a 3-2-1 scale at every metropolitan meeting held in Victoria throughout the racing season.

With only one month remaining in the voting period, Williams was trailing rival Jamie Mott by a single vote. He ultimately sealed his victory by accumulating 11 votes in July, finishing five votes ahead of Mott with a final score of 52 to 47.

Damian Lane, who spent some time riding overseas, finished in third place with 37 votes. Daniel Stackhouse followed with 31 votes, and apprentice jockey Luke Cartwright rounded out the top five with 29 votes.

Williams also earned recognition as the leading Victorian metropolitan winner for the season, having achieved 65 victories during the 2025-26 racing year.

Half Yours, the Caulfield and Melbourne Cup-winning stayer, was named the Victorian Racehorse of the Year. This honour is decided by a select panel consisting of racing officials, media representatives, and broadcasters.

The McEvoy father-and-son training team, Tony and Calvin, saw their stayer Half Yours finish ahead of the talented mare Via Sistina, the Cox Plate heroine. Godolphin's duo of Tentyris and Observer were also in contention.

The McEvoy stable also clinched the Most Outstanding Training Performance award, celebrating their successful Cups double with Half Yours. This made Half Yours the 13th horse to achieve the Cups double, and they triumphed over Cindy Alderson, who was recognised for her exceptional season with Jigsaw, a horse that recorded seven wins from eight starts across Victoria, New Zealand, and Western Australia.

Calvin McEvoy was presented with the Colin Alderson Rising Star Award, an honour bestowed upon a Victorian-licensed trainer under 40 years of age who is demonstrating significant career advancement.

Hailed for his professionalism and adept media engagement, Calvin McEvoy was instrumental in the family stable's impressive tally of 91 winners nationally. This included seven Stakes winners, achieved at a strike rate of 18%.

Jamie Mott and Logan Bates were the recipients of the two peer-voted accolades. Mott won the Victorian Jockeys' Association's Damien Oliver Most Valuable Jockey award, while Bates secured the VJA Rising Star award, with both determined by the votes of Victoria's jockey community.

These awards marked the culmination of a highly successful season for both riders. Bates achieved his inaugural Group 1 victory, and Mott recorded his highest number of wins in a single season, clinching his first Victorian Jockeys' Premiership with 128 victories.

Apprentice jockey Luke Cartwright was celebrated for his breakout season, which saw him achieve 70 wins and his first Stakes success. He claimed both the Victorian Apprentice Jockeys' Premiership and the Metropolitan Apprentice Jockeys' Premiership for the first time in his career.

The Tommy Corrigan Medal, awarded by RV Stewards based on a 2-1 voting system for the best rides at every jumps meeting, also saw a new name engraved on the trophy, with Dean Parker being triumphant in just his second full season since moving from New Zealand.

Ciaron Maher continued his remarkable dominance of the Metropolitan Trainers' Premiership, earning him the Fred Hoysted Medal for the sixth consecutive year. Maher also claimed the Victorian Trainers' Premiership, concluding a memorable season that yielded 220 winners across the state, notably including Group 1 successes with horses such as Observer, Pride Of Jenni, Jimmysstar, and Light Infantry Man. Get the latest racing odds from online bookmakers.