Perceptions are hard to break: when the public – or more often the media – decide that a sportsman or woman excels in one discipline or facet of their game, it is hard to convince anyone that they have more than one string to their bow.
For years Tony McEvoy has been slightly pigeon holed as a trainer of fast, precocious two year olds and hardy older sprinters: horses like Newmarket winner Sunlight and that great old sprinting warrior Hey Doc have, for many, cemented that impression.
But the success of Half Yours in both the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups should shatter that particular perception, something McEvoy, sitting alongside his son Calvin as they faced the media following Jamie Melham’s history making success on their galloper, was quick to point out.
He reminded everyone that he had, earlier in his career, won a Cox Plate in 2003 (with Fields of Omagh when he took the reins for Lindsay Park after the tragic death of Peter Hayes) and also landed a Grand National Steeple with Lance Corporal, successful in the then Flemington staged jumping classic 23 years ago.
”Before Calvin came (as joint trainer) I have been perceived as a trainer of speedy two year olds, fillies..I am hoping that this win, and the Caulfield Cup, will change that mindset.”
Specifically, McEvoy hopes, it might pave the way for some of the larger syndicates and big spending owners who spend fortunes buying northern hemisphere stayers to send a few his way when they next allocate their trainers: the likes of Chris Waller, Ciaron Maher and Gai Waterhouse tend to get sent the cream of the overseas crop and, as a result, trainers like McEvoy have found it more difficult to compete against those big battalions in middle distance and staying races.
”I hope it will give us some more opportunities. We get a great joy out of training a stayer, and this horse has shown that we can manage a stayer.”
He certainly has. And Half Your’s dual success, which puts him in exalted company,is also a tribute to the McEvoy team’s ability to both spot a potential champion and keep him fit, interested and on the go for long periods.
They bought the horse out of the dispersal sale of the late Colin McKenna after the Warrnambool based owner had died last year.
Calvin is a good friend of David Eustace who was then training in partnership with Ciaron Maher, with whom the lightly raced Half Yours had initially been stabled. He asked his pal about the horse before the McEvoys stretched their budget to the limit to secure him for $300,000 through a digital sale.
”David is one of my best mates.I rang him and he said he was a nice horse,” said Calvin, who echoed his father’s view that these Cup successes should help reshape the stable’s brand image.
”It shows that we can do it,” he said with a note of deserved pride in his voice. And he was right to be proud of the fact that the stable could win Australia’s greatest race with the only Australian bred horse in the field, a five year old son of the little known stallion St Jean, whose greatest triumph was at Group 3 level in New Zealand
Half Yours is nothing if not tough, having been on the go since last March when he had his first race after entering the McEvoy stable. His improvement has been nothing short of remarkable, as he had finished a narrow second in a benchmark 64 race at Sandown on that occasion.
They say that availability is the best ability, and Half Yours has proved that adage: the McEvoys had kept him physically fit and mentally sharp enough to have ten starts and race in every subsequent month, culminating in Tuesday’s marvellous triumph.
Along the way he has won at Seymour, Rosehill, the Caloundra Cup at the Sunshine Coast, and Caulfield twice, including the Cup.
Given his racing weight of 53 kilograms it is unlikely he would be handicapped completely out of contention for next year’s Melbourne Cup, but his immediate future is likely to be in weight for age events.
Tony McEvoy believes that his Turnbull Stakes run, when he finished fourth to Sir Delius, is a good pointer to his overall ability given that he finished right alongside subsequent Cox Plate winner Via Sistina.
”He’s a big track horse and the Cox Plate will be run at Flemington next year,” he said with a smile. ”He’s an incredible horse and he’s going to take us to another level.”
Melham was making history of her own in becoming the first female rider to land the Caulfield Cup and Melbourne Cup double, and the victory cemented her relationship with fellow South Australians the McEvoys.
For the trainer, it was a question of joining her as he wasn’t able to beat her when she began riding in Adelaide. He related how he used to grow frustrated at being beaten by this terrific young rider in too many closer finishes at Morphetville, so he began to engage her himself. He has few regrets about teaming up with her now – and she is forever grateful they did.
”My first Melbourne winner, first Flemington winner Dollar for Dollar, my first Adelaide Group 1 winner, my 100th winner,” she reeled off, all coming from the McEvoys, whom she now joins as history makers.
And the best for Half Yours, who with just 15 lifetime starts is open to further improvement, could yet be to come.