Finalists revealed for the 2026 Victorian Racehorse of the Year award 

The four finalists for the prestigious Victorian Racehorse of the Year award have been revealed today by Racing Victoria (RV) as the build-up commences to the 2026 Victorian Racing Awards presented by Gallagher Bassett.

The Victorian Racehorse of the Year award, presented this year by Evans & Partners, is voted on by a panel of Victorian racing officials, journalists and broadcasters and considers performances on Victorian racetracks across the 2025-26 racing season.

The 2026 winner will be crowned in Melbourne this Saturday night, 8 August and join an honour roll boasting a who’s who of superstar thoroughbreds including Black Caviar, Winx, Verry Elleegant, Anamoe and last year’s winner Via Sistina.

The four finalists for this year’s award, in alphabetical order, are Tony and Calvin McEvoy’s Caulfield and Melbourne Cup champion Half Yours, Ciaron Maher’s star three-year-old Observer, boom Anthony and Sam Freedman-trained sprinter Tentyris and mighty mare Via Sistina who is bidding to become the first multiple winner since Winx (2017-19).

An overview of their achievements in the state last season follows:

Half Yours

Only four starts on Victorian soil in 2025-26 were needed for Half Yours to enter the record books for his trainers Tony and Calvin McEvoy. 

After a dominant performance in the Naturalism Stakes (2000m) and slashing fourth in the Turnbull Stakes (2000m), the five-year-old completed the rare Caulfield Cup (2400m) and Melbourne Cup (3200m) double, becoming just the 13th horse to achieve the feat.

Observer

A tough and talented three-year-old, Observer progressed from an unlucky Caulfield Guineas (1600m) placing to all-the-way victories in the Moonee Valley Vase (2040m) and Victoria Derby (2500m) in the spring of 2025. 

The colt returned with the same tenacity in the autumn to add the Australian Guineas (1600m) to his impressive resume, becoming just the fourth horse to complete the Derby-Guineas double.

Tentyris

Few horses in recent memory have produced Group 1 wins as explosive as three-year-old Tentyris did during the 2025-26 racing season. 

The star colt claimed the Gothic Stakes (1200m) and Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m) during a dominant spring, before returning to Flemington in the autumn to obliterate older rivals in the Black Caviar Lightning (1000m).

Via Sistina

Just as she did 12 months earlier, champion mare Via Sistina again shone on Victorian racing’s biggest stage during the 2025 Spring Racing Carnival. 

The Chris Waller-trained superstar claimed back-to-back Cox Plates (2040m) in a fitting final race at The Valley as we know it, before signing off her own career in style with another Champions Stakes (2000m) victory, completing the Group 1 double for a second consecutive year.

Hosted by Jason Richardson and live streamed via the Racing.com digital platforms, Saturday night’s Victorian Racing Awards will see a bevy of individual awards presented including the 31st recipient of the Scobie Breasley Medal presented by Gallagher Bassett. 

Won for the past three years by Blake Shinn who had an injury-interrupted 2025-26 season, the Scobie Breasley Medal is voted on by RV Stewards on a 3-2-1 basis for the best rides at each metropolitan race meeting throughout the season.

The Tommy Corrigan Medal, presented by Country Racing Victoria, will recognise the standout jumps jockey of the 2025-26 season in the eyes of the RV Stewards who vote on a 2-1 basis for the best rides at each jumps meeting.

Presented by Gallagher Bassett, the Colin Alderson Rising Star Award recognises a Victorian-based trainer aged 40 years or younger whose career is on an upward trajectory and who has performed with distinction over the past 12 months.

The Most Outstanding Training Performance award is presented by Maddocks to a Victorian licensed trainer who has demonstrated excellence in racehorse training throughout the 2025-26 racing season, be that in or outside of Victoria.

Like the Victorian Racehorse of the Year award, the Most Outstanding Training Performance is voted on by a panel comprising racing officials, journalists and broadcasters. The four finalists will be announced by RV on Wednesday.

The VJA Rising Star Award and VJA Damien Oliver Most Valuable Jockey Award will also be announced on the night, both peer-voted honours by Victoria’s jockey cohort. 

Other awards to be presented include the RV Acknowledged Retrainer of the Year in recognition of efforts in preparing retired racehorses for a second career, while the winners of the Victorian and Metropolitan Trainers’, Jockeys’ and Apprentice Jockeys’ Premierships will all be celebrated on the night.