The esteemed Melbourne Cup winner, Half Yours, is poised to begin its championship defence in the Makybe Diva Stakes at Flemington.
The Tony and Calvin McEvoy-trained stayer is once again being targeted for this year’s Melbourne Cup (3200m), scheduled to take place at Flemington on November 3.
Jamie Melham, who achieved a historic Caulfield and Melbourne Cup double as the first female jockey to do so, will partner the stayer in its first-up run over 1600 metres at weight-for-age this Saturday.
During the previous campaign, some observers questioned Half Yours’s form. It raced first-up in Sydney before a three-race stint in Queensland, the final of which was the Q22 (2200m) at Eagle Farm in June, where the gelding finished fourth.
Half Yours spent time spelling in Queensland before returning to the McEvoy stable at Flemington early last month to prepare for its racing comeback.
Following two jump-outs at Flemington, Half Yours is considered ready for its return. Tony McEvoy indicated that while the most recent trial, a fourth-place finish over 1000 metres, might have appeared disappointing visually, the team was pleased with the outcome.
“I was really happy with his trial,” McEvoy commented.
“If you put him in a 1000-metre race, he would get completely run off his legs and they ran it like a race.
“It wasn’t like a normal trial and he got chasing.
“They were also trials at Flemington where they finish on a bend, so it’s very hard for horses to make ground on a bend.
“Whilst it didn’t look impressive, I thought he moved well, trialled nicely and the horse is telling us he’s going very well while his coat is coming better by the day.
“All the data that we collate on him is normal.
“He certainly hasn’t gone backwards.”
Following its initial run on Saturday, Half Yours is expected to contest the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes (2000m) at Flemington on October 3, a race where it previously finished fourth before capturing the Caulfield Cup.
The Group 1 Cox Plate, which will be hosted at Flemington this year, will serve as the concluding race in Half Yours’s preparation for the Melbourne Cup.
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