Rowe On Monday – Cup Half full for McEvoys, ATC’s double Everest joy and the importance of stallion diversity

‘I don’t really know what we were thinking, but we just kept going’ – bold bidding lands Caulfield Cup winner

There may be a lack of black type in Caulfield Cup winner Half Yours’ pedigree, but if there’s anything to take out of his page it does suggest that if trainers Tony and Calvin McEvoy decide to press onto the Melbourne Cup, then he is capable of staying the distance.

And the Cup is the intention, Calvin McEvoy says.

“I’ve been with him this morning, he seems absolutely fantastic, he really does,” the co-trainer said. 

“He’s lost a couple of kilos, of course, after a hard run, but we expect him to put that straight back on, and he’s just doing a little bit of dressage and flat work, and getting his head down for a few days into a nice grass paddock and then he’ll head for his scans on Wednesday morning. 

“All going well, which we expect it to be, he’ll be there in the Melbourne Cup.”

Half Yours was handed a two-kilogram penalty for his Caulfield Cup win by Racing Victoria head of handicapping David Hegan on Monday. He will carry 53kg in the Melbourne Cup.

In Half Yours’ favour is the fact that despite none of his first four dams winning a race, there is stamina in his pedigree.

His mother La Gazelle is by Desert King – the sire of Melbourne Cup heroine Makybe Diva – and is a half-sister to Moudre, who won the Queens Cup over 2600m at Flemington for Half Yours’ original trainer.

There are also some staying genes in his sireline with St Jean’s own sire Teofilo responsible for three Melbourne Cup winners, Without A Fight (2023), Twilight Payment (2020) and Cross Counter (2018).

St Jean won the 2017 City Of Auckland Cup (2400m) for trainer Donna Logan before his 19-start career was halted due to injury.

Belmont Bloodstock’s Damon Gabbedy, who was keen to push all the praise onto the McEvoys for selecting and astutely training Half Yours, “push the button” to buy Half Yours for what has turned out to be a bargain $305,000 11 months ago via Inglis Digital.

McEvoy said: “It was, I suppose, a bold move to end up going that high for him, especially, as we didn’t know anything more than anyone else, we just liked the horse, we liked the profile of him, thought he was progressive, but not for that sort of money. 

“I don’t really know what we were thinking, but we just kept going, and we were confident that we could get some people who would come into the horse.”

At the time he’d won a maiden and a Benchmark 64 at Cranbourne.

“He won a race well at Cranbourne, but then got beaten five lengths at Sandown at his next start. His level of improvement is extraordinary,” Gabbedy told this column.

“I didn’t realise until one of the other commentators said it, but he’s run in March, April, May, June, July, August, September and October. 

“It’s not as if he’s been overraced, that was only his 14th start.”

Not a bad result for a horse McEvoy was hoping could progress to a race like the Ballarat Cup. 

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Deserved plaudits for ATC’s Ka Ying negotiations

In the Grand Ballroom at Royal Randwick on Saturday, in the hour or so after Ka Ying Rising’s Everest victory, there were hugs and high fives.

The Australian Turf Club directors – chair Tim Hale, Caroline Searcy, David McGrath and Annette English – were rightly pleased with themselves for pulling the right rein in negotiating to lease their slot to the Hong Kong Jockey Club, allowing Ka Ying Rising to run in Sydney’s signature $20 million race.

Despite rumours suggesting all was not well with the superstar sprinter – innuendo which was still swirling around Inglis’ Ready2Race Sale at Warwick Farm last Thursday, even after trainer David Hayes had put it to bed – the New Zealand-bred gelding ultimately delivered under a textbook ride from jockey Zac Purton.

The terms of the deal have remained private, but the ATC is sure to have significantly benefited financially from Ka Ying Rising running in the club-owned slot. That’s on top of the three percent of World Pool turnover the ATC receives directly from parimutuel wagering on its meeting.

The Jockey Club-run World Pool, which co-mingles into tote pools for major meetings around the world including Randwick and Caulfield last Saturday, revealed The Everest was the biggest turnover race (A$16.44 million) in its history.

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Genetic diversity key to Australasia’s stallion ranks, says Hutch

Just where the next wave of top stallions for Australia (and New Zealand) is anyone’s guess.

The loss of champions Snitzel and, more recently, Wootton Bassett, as well as Written Tycoon standing privately and in the twilight of his career, it’s been a conundrum for mare owners on which stallions to send their breeding stock to.

And that’s been complicated by the death of the aforementioned sires, albeit they were only accessible to a few breeders with deep pockets and high-quality mares.

Inglis Bloodstock chief executive Sebastian Hutch believes it’s cyclical and that the emergence of some promising sires leaves cause for optimism about the depth of Australasia’s stallion ranks.

“It’s always evolving. I’m very envious of the position they’re in in the US where they just look to have an extraordinary group of stallions and tremendous depth to them,” Hutch told the Straight Talk podcast. 

“But 10 years ago, they had Tapit and nothing else, right? So, it’s somewhat cyclical. Even in Europe, some of the more established stallions are just getting a bit older.

“They have what looks to be a reasonable flow of younger stallions coming through. But, who knows? What’s the stallion lineup going to look like in five years’ time?”

He suggested Australia’s general sires’ table could be headed by Harry Angel, Too Darn Hot and Wootton Bassett who “is going to make a big impression” with his two-year-olds, yearlings and weanlings still to run for him.

“I’m reluctant to overthink it because … the support of breeders of particular stallions is hugely important. If you ask me, one thing that’s probably of particular concern is just the volume of stallions,” Hutch said. 

“We have a situation in New Zealand where there’s one first-season stallion with first yearlings in 2026. That’s maybe something of an anomaly in the context of their market, but it’s a bit of a shock to the system. We don’t have anywhere near the same volume of stallions coming through in Australia that we have had in the recent past.

“I think we’re seeing evidence of stallion masters being very open-minded in what they’re prepared to embrace from overseas.”

Hutch believes the shuttle stallions will remain an important segment of the Australasian stallion ranks in the years to come.

“It’s great to be able to have exposure to Justify for Coolmore, Cogburn’s come down to Widden and Yulong won the Dewhurst last weekend (with Gewan) and he’s a horse that could shuttle here in a year or two years’ time,” he said. 

“Hopefully, we can continue to maintain some level of genetic diversity.

“Australians breed good racehorses. We want to see Australians continue to breed good racehorses and the stallions are a big part of maintaining people’s enthusiasm in the market.”