Blake Shinn wins 2024-25 Melbourne jockeys' premiership
The last metropolitan race of the season turned out to be a metaphor of the Melbourne jockeys' premiership battle for champion rider Craig Williams.
Williams put up a strong fight in the last months of the season but was unable to reel in reigning Scobie Breasley Medallist Blake Shinn, missing the opportunity to join record holder Damien Oliver on 10 Melbourne jockeys' premierships.
Shinn led Williams by seven wins at the start of Wednesday's Sandown meeting but neither rider added to their tally on the final metropolitan race day of 2024/25.
Williams had eight rides at Sandown but was narrowly denied a consolation win in the last race when his mount Makdane was shaded on the line by $41 outsider Superstock.
• PUNT LIKE A PRO: Become a Racenet iQ member and get expert tips – with fully transparent return on investment statistics – from Racenet's team of professional punters at our Pro Tips section. SUBSCRIBE NOW!
Shinn finished the season on 74 wins to Williams' 67 but the latter topped the Melbourne prizemoney tally with his 381 mounts reaping more than $12.9m on city tracks.
Daniel Stackhouse was third on 48 wins.
Shinn's premiership triumph was his third in Melbourne while he is the only jockey to have won Melbourne and Sydney jockey's titles, winning the Sydney crown in 2007/08.
Shinn will also claim the Victorian Jockeys' Premiership, which includes metropolitan and provincial wins after Thursday's season finale at Sale.
• 'We were the common enemy': How Morrison united Victorian racing
The all-powerful Ciaron Maher stable took out the Melbourne trainers' premiership with 113 wins, 44 ahead of the Ben, Will and JD Hayes team.
Maher also won the national trainers' premiership with 329½ wins, 52½ in front of Chris Waller.
Young jockey Tom Prebble emulated his father Brett when he claimed the Melbourne apprentices' title by one win over Jaylah Kennedy.
Brett Prebble won the Melbourne apprentices' crown in the mid-1990s before embarking on a stellar career that included more than 500 wins in Hong Kong and the 2012 Melbourne Cup on Green Moon.
Originally published as Blake Shinn holds off Craig Williams to win 2024-25 Melbourne jockeys' premiership
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Herald Sun
6 hours ago
- Herald Sun
2025 Basketball SA District Finals live stream: Youth and Reserves prelim finals
Don't miss out on the headlines from Basketball Live Stream. Followed categories will be added to My News. It's last chance saloon for South Australia's top ballers as they shoot for a grand final opportunity in the BSA District and Youth League preliminary finals. All four finals from the Under-21/23 and Reserves divisions will be exclusively live streamed on KommunityTV on Tuesday night. WATCH LAST WEEK'S MAJOR AND MINOR SEMI-FINALS WATCH THE JUNIOR DISTRICT LEAGUE FINALS ACTION A Jack Turnbull-led Sturt Sabres will be searching for answers in the Reserves Men preliminary final as they aim to bounce back to form against Central District Lions. The Lions will go into the contest with plenty of confidence after they beat their rivals by seven points the last time the two sides faced off mid-season. The high-flying Forestville Eagles await the winner in next week's grand final. Finally the West Adelaide Bearcats, who were stunned by the Eagles in last week's semi-finals, will need to regroup quickly against a hungry Sturt Sabres side. The Bearcats reserves women features a stacked line-up of talented playmakers, but they were left floored by an attack led by U18 SA Metro captain Olivia Tredrea and her sister Jemma. The Sabres feature their own impressive line-up led by gun shooter Chelsea Portus, and will be confident they can spring a second shock in as many weeks to book a grand final spot. South Adelaide Panthers Under-21 men will look to regroup after giving up a nine-point first-quarter lead in last week's qualifying final against Central District Lions. The Panthers, who have plenty of talent across the floor, will take on a Norwood Flames side flying high after notching triple figures in the elimination final. The Flames will be led by the exciting Ezeikiel Emnace who caught fire with 30 points last week. The same two sides will battle in the earlier clash on Court 4 with the Norwood Flames taking on the Panthers in the Under-23 women's preliminary final. The Panthers will have all the momentum after holding on for a 14-point win in last week's elimination final, while the Flames fell three shots away from the grand final. The two sides haven't met in more than a month, but the Flames got the better of their rivals on that occasion thanks largely to a Lucy Wootton masterclass. Originally published as 2025 Basketball SA District Finals live stream: Youth and Reserves prelim finals
Courier-Mail
10 hours ago
- Courier-Mail
Game, set, match: Bizarre new dating show to take place at US Open
Don't miss out on the headlines from Tennis. Followed categories will be added to My News. Watch out, 'Love Island,' there might be a new reality dating show sweeping the nation in a few weeks. The U.S. Open announced Thursday that it would be filming, producing and releasing its own YouTube series called 'Game, Set, Matchmaker,' which 'fuses the emotional rollercoaster of a dating show with the electric energy of one of the world's biggest sporting events,' according to the announcement. Watch the biggest Aussie sports & the best from overseas LIVE on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1. The eight-episode show will be filmed during the U.S. Open Fan Week at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, following one single — dubbed 'The Champion' — as she attempts to find love with one of her seven matches, the New York Post reports. Long Island native Ilana Sedaka, a 24-year-old former figure skater turned pilates instructor who lives in Miami, will be the show's bachelorette, with the eligible bachelors consisting of influencers, tennis superfans and social personalities. No specific men were named. The US Open announced it would be filming, producing and releasing its own reality dating show following 24-year-old Illana Sedaka (right). Image: Getty/Instagram 'We're excited to break new ground with 'Game, Set, Matchmaker,' at the US Open and across our channels this year,' Jonathan Zipper, senior director of social media at the USTA, said in a statement. 'It's the perfect time for us to launch a fun, social-forward concept that meets the moment, engaging fans at the intersection of tennis, pop culture and entertainment.' The first episode will be posted on the first official day of the U.S. Open — Aug. 24. The finale will be available on the same day as the women's final. X Learn More SUBSCRIBER ONLY The project is a collaboration between the USTA and Fresh Tape Media, and is attempting to capitalise on the tournament's cultural impact beyond the play on the court. 'The US Open is more than a tournament; it's a cultural stage,' said Alana Glenn Moritz, creative director for Fresh Tape Media, according to The Hollywood Reporter. 'We built this series to capture that energy in its purest form. It's unexpected, it's current, and it taps into the drama and connection that makes this event unlike anything else.' This article originally appeared on the NY Post and was reproduced with permission. Originally published as Game, set, match: Bizarre new dating show to take place at US Open
Courier-Mail
10 hours ago
- Courier-Mail
World Swimming Championships: Meg Harris, relay, chances as Aussies chase gold
Don't miss out on the headlines from Swimming. Followed categories will be added to My News. Australian sprinter Meg Harris gambled on herself and came up a world champion. The 23-year-old was one of the big underdog stories of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, bolting from an outside lane to claim a shock silver medal in the 50m freestyle. Inspired by that moment and the success of Australia's unique sprint king Cameron McEvoy, Harris decided to all but shelve the 100m event and focus on being a pure sprinter. It was a huge risk, given she had collected two Olympic and five world titles gold medals by being part of a relay ensemble with her 100m strength, but Harris knew she had potential to stand atop the podium on her own if she went all in on the 50m. Meg Harris celebrates after winning the women's 50m freestyle final. Picture: AFP) So committed was Harris to her new life as a one-lap specialist, she pulled out of the 100m event after swimming a heat at the national trials and coaches needed to twist her arm just to line up for the 4x100m freestyle relay on the opening night of these world titles where she also won a gold medal. But Harris has proven she could have her cake and eat it too. Harris executed a near-perfect race to take Australia's eighth gold medal of the world titles, with a stunning start and underwater to come up clearly ahead of the field and hold on to win in 24.02 seconds from China's Qingfeng Wu (24.26s) and Yujie Cheng (24.28s). She is Australia's first women's 50m freestyle world champion in a decade, joining Bronte Campbell as a one-lap hero after she won the title in Kazan in 2015. It also means Australia boasts the fastest man and woman in the world after Cameron McEvoy also won the 50m freestyle earlier in the meet. Meg Harris was part of five world championship-winning relay teams, with this her first individual title. Picture: AFP 'I still don't have the words to process this, but this is a dream,' Harris said. 'I felt really good the first 15m and that's been my weakness so far. I knew if I got that right I just had to hold on.' Harris said she made the bold call to focus on the 50m after struggling to get back into the grind of swimming life post Paris. 'It was a bit of a tough one. I felt such a high coming off that, and then starting out this year I had to find a new motivation, not just coming in and doing the exact same thing,' she explained. 'I tried for the first couple months, but something just wasn't working. I needed to find a new way to do it. So I stripped everything back and started with the basics, all the things… like the reasons I started swimming. I love sprinting, I love racing. 'So we just took that all back, did everything that I love. I'm excited now to put together the rest when I get home. But yeah, cannot be happier.' Meg Harris takes off, on her way to a world championships gold medal. Picture: Getty Images In a post-Olympic year Australia's eight gold medals is perhaps a stronger return than expected for a swim team that was tipped to struggle with Ariarne Titmus taking the year off, Zac Stubblety-Cook out injured and Olympic great Emma McKeon retired. But it is one more gold medal than the Dolphins secured at the Paris Olympics and importantly there were fresh faces like Harris showing they were ready to stand up as individuals in the path towards the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. Meg Harris reacts after winning the women's 50m freestyle final. Picture: AFP The emergence of Lani Pallister as a serious threat to Katie Ledecky in the 800m freestyle, the arrival of Alexandria Perkins as a 50m-100m butterfly medallist and the 'dirty gold' Harrison Turner in the 200m butterfly have given Australian optimism about regenerating a swim team that is still powered by greats like Kaylee McKeown, Mollie O'Callaghan, Cameron McEvoy and Kyle Chalmers. While it wasn't quite the 13 gold medal haul from Fukuoka's 2023 world titles, the signs are promising enough that the Dolphins are keeping the US swim team honest in the medal table battle ahead of their home Games in three years. Sam Short climbed out of his sick bed just three days after a horrendous bout of gastro for a gallant fourth place in the 1500m freestyle final in 14:43,06. 'I just wanted to get out there and see how hard I could push myself,' he said. 'I was pretty sick three days ago ... fourth I will take that. 'I didn't have to do the 1500 but there was no way I would sit in the stands without giving it a crack.' Earlier, Isaac Cooper was seventh in the men's 50m backstroke. Originally published as World Swimming Championships: Shocked Harris wins 50m freestyle world championship
