The Victorian Racing Media Association has awarded Damien Oliver with the Roy Higgins Medal.
The medal is decided by a voting system which sees two members of the media give 5-4-3-2-1 votes to top-performing jockeys on Melbourne’s Saturday metropolitan meeting.
Oliver finished three votes clear on the top of the leaderboard, with Dwayne Dunn finishing second and Jye McNeil, who is expected to claim the Victorian Premiership, placing third. Dunn had led for the majority of the count, however, a strong finish from Oliver saw him claim victory.
The quality of riders racing in Victoria was evident by the variety of hoops who were announced as the ‘Rider of the Month’ over the season. 10 different jockeys claimed the honour, including the likes of Jamie Kah, Damian Lane and Craig Williams.
The medal is named after legendary jockey Roy Higgins, who sadly passed away in 2014. He won many Group 1s over his career, with the highlights being two Melbourne Cups and two Cox Plates. His final ride was in 1983 and in 1987 he was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.
