Half Yours continues to make every post a winner since joining the Tony and Calvin McEvoy yard, and the stable is daring to dream that his rise reaches its peak in Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup. The gelding has again found a favourable set of circumstances, this time drawing barrier eight for the $10 million feature where Jamie Melham will take the reins.
The son of St Jean delivered a powerful performance to win the Caulfield Cup, aided by a similarly advantageous draw, and expected rain is tipped to further enhance his chances on Cup Day.
“Things are just falling into place beautifully,” Tony Mcevoy said.
“You need momentum and we’ve got the momentum at the moment.
“The horse seems fabulous and what a joy for us now to have the beautiful gate where Jamie can just switch him off and relax and enjoy the race.”
Half Yours has compiled a remarkable résumé since being purchased for $305,000 from the Inglis Digital dispersal of the late Colin McKenna’s horses last November. Originally prepared by Ciaron Maher, the gelding was second in a Benchmark 64 at Sandown at his first start for the McEvoys before working his way through the grades with purpose.
He won a Benchmark 64 at Seymour on April 15, headed to Queensland by way of Sydney, and then demolished his rivals in the Listed Caloundra Cup (2400m) on July 5.
A luckless Benchmark 100 fifth followed at Rosehill on August 30, but he quickly returned to winning form with a dominant performance in the Group 3 Naturalism Stakes (2000m) on September 20.
His run in the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes confirmed he was tracking ideally into the Caulfield Cup, where he justified favouritism with a commanding win — a victory that McEvoy described as a milestone moment in his training career.
“He’s a horse every stable needs,” McEvoy said.
“I think I’ve been perceived as a two-year-old speed trainer, and probably a fillies trainer, and that’s mainly because I haven’t been able to afford buying the colts.
“But having this horse win a staying race, a major, is going to let people say, ‘well, they can train to stayer’.
“We’ve got a lot of speed in our stable, we haven’t got many staying horses, but I love training stayers – I’ve trained to Grand National winner.
“I’m hoping that this will open a few doors and get us a few more either imports or locals.
“This horse is a home-grown horse, which is also very special. Hopefully it’ll give us more runners in these big races, year on year.”
McEvoy’s history in the spring features stretches back decades, including training Fields Of Omagh to victory in the 2003 Cox Plate, and working behind some famous Lindsay Park attempts during his time with the operation.
“I was there with Beldale Ball, At Talaq and Jeune, I was in Adelaide running the Adelaide operation in those days,” McEvoy said.
“It was magnificent. It just lifted everybody. It’s a life changing race, I’ve had involvement in it and it’s been special.
“I’ve had a few runners in it. I got close up and ran fifth one year, which was very good, but I’d like to go a little bit better this year.”
If you’re placing a bet on the Melbourne Cup, make sure to compare markets and offers across Australia’s leading betting sites to secure the best value.
