Jockey Jye McNeil celebrated a break-out season by being honoured with the Scobie Breasley Medal and the peer-voted Most Valuable Jockey award at the 2022 Victorian Racing Awards on Saturday night.
McNeil can add the two prestigious awards to his season’s trophy cabinet which include victory in the 2020 Melbourne Cup and his first Victorian metropolitan jockeys’ premiership in 2021/22.
The 27-year-old won the Breasley Medal with 56 votes, three more than 11-time winner Damien Oliver, with Damian Lane (42) and star apprentice Alana Kelly (30) coming in next.
Incentivise, trained by Peter Moody, comfortably won the Victorian Racehorse of the Year title with 95 votes, with Melbourne Cup winner Verry Elleegant runner-up with 54 votes.
Incentivise won the Caulfield Cup among his three straight Group 1 wins in the 2021 Spring Carnival.
For the second straight year, the all-conquering Ciaron Maher and David Eustace stable claimed the Fred Hoysted Medal, which recognises excellence on and off the training track.
They were the unanimous choice after another dominant season in which they won races ranging from the Oakleigh Plate (1100m) to the Grand Annual Steeplechase (5500m). They won the Victorian Metropolitan Trainers title with 104 wins, and the Victorian overall state title with 276 winners.
Maddie Raymond won the Colin Alderson Award for up-and-coming trainer, while Irish pair Willie McCarthy and Richard O’Donoghue tied in the Tommy Corrigan Medal for jumps jockeys.
Votes for the winners were:
Scobie Breasley Medal
- Jye McNeil (56 votes)
- Damien Oliver (53)
- Damian Lane (42)
- Alana Kelly (30)
- Brett Prebble and Craig Williams (both 29)
Victorian Racehorse of the Year
- Incentivise (95 votes)
- Verry Elleegant (54)
- Hitotsu (32)
- Zaaki (27)
- Nature Strip (12)
Tommy Corrigan Medal
- Willie McCarthy and Richard O’Donoghue (both 10 votes)
- Steven Pateman (8)
- Aaron Lynch, Darryl Horner (Jnr) and Lee Horner (all 6)
Fred Hoysted Medal
- Ciaron Maher and David Eustace
VJA Most Valuable Jockey
VJA Rising Star
The 2021-22 Victorian premiership winners were also recognised tonight. They were:
- Metropolitan Jockeys’ Premiership (Roy Higgins Medal): Jye McNeil (74 wins)
- Victorian Jockeys’ Premiership: John Allen (130)
- Metropolitan Apprentices’ Premiership: Josh Richards (39)
- Victorian Apprentices’ Premiership: Alana Kelly (71)
- Metropolitan Trainers’ Premiership: Ciaron Maher and David Eustace (104)
- Victorian Trainers’ Premiership: Ciaron Maher and David Eustace (276)
Read More:McNeil adds Scobie Breasley Medal to Trophy Cabinet
2022-09-04 04:06:57