Everything continues to fall into place for Half Yours as the Melbourne Cup approaches, and Tony and Calvin McEvoy are hoping the momentum holds steady for just a few days more. The father-and-son training partnership have guided the gelding on a remarkable rise, and he now sits as the favourite for Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup.
Half Yours will be ridden by Jamie Melham and has again come up with a favourable draw, landing barrier eight for the $10 million staying feature at Flemington.
His previous start, the Caulfield Cup, also saw him benefit from a suitable gate before powering home to victory. Forecast rain in the lead-up to Tuesday’s race is expected to aid his chances even further.
“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’ journey has been nothing short of a transformation. Purchased for $305,000 from the late Colin McKenna’s dispersal sale via Inglis Digital in November last year, he has steadily climbed through the grades since joining the McEvoys’ care after previously being trained by Ciaron Maher.
He was runner-up in a Benchmark 64 at Sandown on March 19 in his first run for the new stable, then broke through in a Benchmark 64 at Seymour on April 15. From there, the gelding travelled to Queensland with a brief stopover in Sydney and produced a dominant display in the Listed Caloundra Cup (2400m) on July 5.
Upon returning south, Half Yours finished fifth in a Benchmark 100 at Rosehill on August 30 before stamping himself as a genuine Group-class stayer with a decisive 3.5 length victory in the Group 3 Naturalism Stakes (2000m) on September 20.
He then produced a strong performance in the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes before securing his Caulfield Cup triumph as a heavily-supported favourite, providing McEvoy with a highlight moment in his 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 has been no stranger to major spring successes, having prepared Fields Of Omagh to claim his first Cox Plate in 2003. He was also part of significant Lindsay Park campaigns including the fifth-placed finish of Hugs Dancer behind Makybe Diva in 2004.
“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.”
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