Cover image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
The 2023/24 Victorian Racing Awards were celebrated on Saturday night at a black-tie event. The event celebrates the achievements of horses, jockeys and trainers in Victoria during the 2023/24 racing season.
Horse Of The Year
Caulfield Cup and Melbourne Cup winner Without A Fight (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) narrowly won the Victorian Racehorse of the Year prize with 66 industry panel votes from Imperatriz (I Am Invincible) who garnered 60 votes. Without A Fight joined some rare and illustrious company in winning the Caulfield/Melbourne Cup double in the same season becoming only the 12th horse in history to do so.
Without A Fight (Ire) | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
“It was a strong year,” said Without A Fight’s co-trainer Sam Freedman. “Any other year, all those other horses would’ve been worthy winners. It took an amazing double to win the award, and was good to see the rare feat recognised.”
The other dual Caulfield/Melbourne Cup winners are 2001/02 Ethereal (NZ) (Rhythm {USA}), 1997/98 Might And Power (NZ) (Zabeel {NZ}), 1995/06 Doriemus (NZ) (Norman Pentaquad {USA}), 1991/92 Let’s Elope (NZ) (Nassipour {USA}), 1982/83 Gurner’s Lane (NZ) (Sir Tristram {Ire}), 1966/67 Galilee (NZ) (Alcimedes {GB}), 1962/63 Even Stevens (NZ) (Fair’s Fair {GB}), 1954/55 Rising Fast (NZ) (Alonzo {GB}), 1939/40 Rivette (Ronsard {GB}), 1937/38 The Trump (Manfred) and 1906/07 Poseidon (Positano {GB}).
Eight jockey’s awards
Jockeys in Victoria are eligible for eight of the annual awards with the Scobie Breasley Medal being the most highly coveted. The award is voted on by Racing Victoria stewards after every metropolitan meeting during the season with the best three rides of the day awarded points on a 3-2-1 system.
In 2023/24, Blake Shinn won his third Scobie Breasley Medal, having previously won the prestigious award in 2022/23 and 2004/05.
Blake Shinn | Image courtesy of Racing Photos
Awards for the most wins during the season went to Damian Lane (both the Metro wins and the Victorian wins), while apprentice Celine Gaudray won both the apprentice titles. Two awards are voted on by jockeys – the peer voted awards of the ‘Damian Oliver Most Valuable Jockey’ which was won by Damian Lane, and the ‘Rising Star’ award which went to Jaylah Kennedy.
The Tommy Corrigan Medal for best jumps jockey is awarded through a voting system and in 2023/24, was awarded to Aaron Kuru.
Best Victorian trainers for 2023/24
The training combination of Anthony and Sam Freedman, who trained Victorian Horse Of The Year Without A Fight (Ire), dominated the two training awards which were voted on by the industry panel, winning the Most Outstanding Training Performance while Sam also picked up the Colin Alderson Rising Star Award.
Sam and Anthony Freedman
“Obviously it’s very humbling,” said Sam Freedman. “We were fortunate to be recognised for the two awards. We’ve got a great team behind us and getting that type of accolade doesn’t come about without the people on the ground in the stable doing the work. It was nice for the whole team to be recognised.”
The two awards decided by number of wins in the season went to Ciaron Maher, who won the Metropolitan Trainers’ Premiership (Fred Hoysted Medal) with 107 city wins in Victoria in 2023/24, and the Victorian Trainer’s Premiership with 218 wins across the whole state during the season.
Retrainer Of The Year
The Racing Victoria Acknowledged Re-trainer of the Year award was inaugurated in 2019 and the 2023/24 winner was Louise Abey of Abey Performance Horses who collected her second win in succession in this award. The Emerging Re-trainer Award was won by Jessica Cocks, who was also enjoying her second win with this award.
"I'm honoured to be a finalist in this group of hard working and talented women, who are also my friends, and I was delighted to win," said Abey.
Louise Abey
“Thank you to Racing Victoria for celebrating the hard work, and also for the great post racing initiatives that are in place. It is a lovely thing and means a great deal to be recognised within your industry.
“I also want to thank my beautiful partner Will who does so much behind the scenes and is incredibly supportive. Also our family, supporters and great team at home.
“It has become more challenging over the last 12 months for those rehoming thoroughbreds due to the cost of living. Many retired thoroughbreds will benefit from correct assessment, time and training before finding their new career and I strongly advocate for doing this process correctly from the start. Horses given the correct time and training are more likely to stay on a positive pathway for the rest of their life.
“Thank you to Racing Victoria for celebrating the hard work, and also for the great post racing initatives that are in place. It is a lovely thing and means a great deal to be recognised within your industry.” - Louise Abey
“Victoria has built up a terrific pool of talented retrainers and it's important they continue to play a role for racing. Racing Victoria has some great programs in place, and has recently announced new support and subsidy options for certain horses. Given the increasing challenges due to the cost of living it's a good time for these important discussions.
“We all need a broader understanding regarding the costs and responsibilities and what that looks like for the industry and its different stakeholders. Transparency is key, and we all need to work together."
