Another win for Shinn as Blake’s brilliance rewarded with fourth Scobie Breasley Medal

Blake Shinn has cemented his status as Victoria’s premier jockey after winning his third successive Scobie Breasley Medal at tonight’s 2025 Victorian Racing Awards, presented by Pace Development Group.

The win comes 20 years after he claimed the first of his four Scobie Breasley Medals as an apprentice in 2005 before building an impressive CV on the international racing stage.

Since returning from Hong Kong, Shinn has emerged as the dominant force in Victoria’s fiercely competitive riding ranks and the 37-year-old completed a clean sweep, claiming both the Victorian and Metropolitan Jockeys’ Premierships in the 2024-25 season.

After the Racing Victoria (RV) Stewards panel had cast their votes on a 3-2-1 basis at every Victorian metropolitan meeting for the ride they deemed the best of the day, Shinn was adjudged the clear winner of the Scobie Breasley Medal having polled 60 votes.

He was awarded three votes on a season-high 13 occasions, including for his masterful Group 1-winning ride aboard Antino in the Hyland Race Colours Toorak Handicap (1600m) at Caulfield, where he unleashed a dazzling mid-race move.

After a foot injury looked set to end his season prematurely, Shinn made an unexpected early return to battle it out with Craig Williams for the Metropolitan Jockeys’ Premiership, and his late-season form impressed Stewards with Shinn landing 11 votes across the last five meetings of the season.

Daniel Stackhouse was rewarded for the most successful campaign of his career with 46 votes, followed by Jamie Mott in third place (44), five-time Scobie Breasley Medallist Craig Williams in fourth (40) and Jamie Melham rounding out the top five on 32 votes.    

The result of the Victorian Racehorse of the Year award presented by Evans & Partners was equally clear cut, with Ladbrokes Cox Plate (2040m) heroine Via Sistina sealing a sixth success in the category for her trainer Chis Waller as the mare finished well clear of joint runners-up Treasurethe Moment and Mr Brightside.

The Yulong-owned Via Sistina received 79 votes from the panel, comprising of industry officials and members of the racing media, following a remarkable Spring Racing Carnival which produced three Group 1 victories including her eight-length blitz in Australasia’s weight-for-age championship.

Lindsay Park’s warrior Mr Brightside amassed 40 points together with Treasurethe Moment, whose trainer Matt Laurie received ample compensation when, in one of the closest contests of the night, he claimed the Most Outstanding Training Performance award presented by Gallagher Bassett Australia.

Having masterminded eight straight wins for Treasurethe Moment, including three at racing’s highest level, Laurie received 57 votes from the panel to pip Waller - who was nominated for his efforts with Via Sistina - to the prize by just three votes.

The judging panel acknowledged Laurie’s efforts in preparing the Yulong-owned Treasurethe Moment to become the first filly in 19 years to complete the VRC-ATC Oaks double.

Third-placed in the award was Andrew Bobbin (16 votes), who was acknowledged for his deeds in preparing star jumper Duke Of Bedford to complete the challenging Brierly-Grand Annual Steeplechase double at the Warrnambool May Racing Carnival.  

Cranbourne trainer Gavin Bedggood also enjoyed a breakthrough season, having saddled up his first Group 1 winner, and the former jumps jockey was a worthy recipient of the Colin Alderson Rising Star Award presented by Maddocks, which is awarded to a Victorian licensed trainer aged under 40 whose career is on an upward trajectory. 

In a stellar 2024-25, Bedggood prepared a career-best 62 winners – up from 41 the year prior – and doubled his tally of stakes winners with feature race success from 1000m to 3200m, capped by Mornington Glory’s win in the Group 1 Charter Keck Cramer Moir Stakes (1000m) at The Valley.

The two peer-voted jockey awards went the way of Damian Lane and Logan Bates, the respective winners of the VJA Damien Oliver Most Valuable Jockey and the VJA Rising Star awards.

It was the second time Lane had received the senior accolade and a first win in his category for Bates, who also took out the Victorian Apprentice Jockeys’ Premiership title with 79 wins.

Tom Prebble, the son of two-time Scobie Breasley Medallist Brett, received the trophy for the Metropolitan Apprentice Jockeys’ Premiership after he prevailed in a hard-fought battle with 2024 VJA Rising Star Jaylah Kennedy by one victory, with 24 for the season.

Other winners on Victorian racing’s night of nights include the country’s leading jumps jockey Steve Pateman, who received the Tommy Corrigan Medal presented by Country Racing Victoria for the 10th time in his illustrious career. Pateman first won the award back in 2007.

Several of his feature wins, most notably star steeplechaser Stern Idol, were achieved in tandem with his close friend Ciaron Maher, who was awarded the Fred Hoysted Medal in recognition of finishing atop the Metropolitan Trainers’ Premiership for the fifth season in succession.

Maher prepared 113 Victorian metropolitan winners for the season – the stable’s highest across the five titles – including six at Group 1 level headlined by a fairytale win for jockey Harry Coffey aboard Duke De Sessa in the Sportsbet Caulfield Cup (2400m).

The Lindsay Park Racing team of Ben, JD and Will Hayes trailed Maher in the metropolitan, but they got the better of their rival in the overall Victorian Trainers’ Premiership after preparing 240 winners across the state – 16 more than Maher.

Amongst their season highlights in Victoria were a hat-trick of Group 1 victories for the stable's pin-up boy Mr Brightside, as well as an array of juvenile success including black type wins for Shining Smile (three), Miss Celine, Tycoon Star and Scenic Point.

Following is a full list of awards presented at the 2025 Victorian Racing Awards:

• Scobie Breasley Medal presented by Pace Development Group – Blake Shinn

• Victorian Racehorse of the Year presented by Evans & Partners – Via Sistina

• Most Outstanding Training Performance presented by Gallagher Bassett Australia – Matt Laurie

• Tommy Corrigan Medal presented by Country Racing Victoria – Steve Pateman

• Colin Alderson Rising Star Award presented by Maddocks – Gavin Bedggood

• VJA Damien Oliver Most Valuable Jockey – Damian Lane

• VJA Rising Star – Logan Bates

• RV Acknowledged Retrainer of the Year – Jennifer Duffy

• RV Acknowledged Retrainer of the Year Runner-Up – Louise Abey

• Metropolitan Jockeys’ Premiership (Roy Higgins Medal) – Blake Shinn (74 wins)

• Victorian Jockeys’ Premiership – Blake Shinn (146 wins)

• Metropolitan Apprentices’ Premiership – Tom Prebble (24 wins)

• Victorian Apprentices’ Premiership – Logan Bates (79 wins)

• Metropolitan Trainers’ Premiership (Fred Hoysted Medal) – Ciaron Maher (113 wins)

• Victorian Trainers’ Premiership – Ben, Will and JD Hayes (240 wins)