Half Yours may only be at the beginning of his latest preparation, but Calvin McEvoy has already seen enough to suggest the gelding is poised for another big year in 2026.

The son of St Jean, who rose from provincial Benchmark 64 company in mid-April to Melbourne Cup success in early November, has been back in work for a fortnight.

After completing an eight-month, 10-start campaign with McEvoy and co-trainer Tony McEvoy, the five-year-old enjoyed close to two months off, a break that the younger McEvoy believes has been invaluable.

“The 23rd of December he came back in, so he’s just in the very early stages of the preparation, but he’s having a light canter and he looks terrific,” McEvoy said.

“We’re very pleased with him. He had 7.5 weeks off and he looks a different horse.

“He’s put a lovely cover on and softened up and there’s plenty of work with.”

Originally trained by Ciaron Maher, Half Yours joined the McEvoy stable late in 2024 and made his first appearance for the team when third in a 1400-metre Benchmark 64 at Sandown on March 19.

He quickly broke through at his following start with a Benchmark 64 win at Seymour before heading north for two Sydney runs and a Queensland Winter Carnival appearance, highlighted by a dominant 4½-length victory in the Listed Caloundra Cup.

Kept ticking over throughout winter, Half Yours emerged as a standout handicapper in the spring, taking out the Group 3 Naturalism Stakes (2000m) before progressing to Group 1 triumphs in the Caulfield Cup (2400m) and the Melbourne Cup (3200m).

McEvoy said the early plan is for Half Yours to resume in the $1.5 million Group 1 All Aged Stakes (1400m) at Randwick on April 18 before a return to Queensland, with a start in the Cox Plate at Flemington likely to form part of his Melbourne Cup build-up.

The post Half Yours builds into 2026 campaign first appeared on Just Horse Racing.