Half Yours among 71 Melbourne Cup first acceptors for title defence

The Victoria Racing Club’s first acceptances have left 71 horses, including defending champion Half Yours, in contention for the $10.2 million Group 1 Melbourne Cup at Flemington on November 3.

Ciaron Maher has the largest team for the 3200-metre race, with 14 acceptors including Archer Stakes winner Shockletz and Naturalism Stakes winner Zahrann. Middle Earth and Point of Law also remain in his group.

Chris Waller has nine, including Aeliana and 2023 Cup runner-up Soulcombe. Both are nominated for Saturday’s Group 1 Turnbull Stakes.

Half Yours, who won last year’s Caulfield and Melbourne Cups for Tony and Calvin McEvoy, galloped at Flemington on Tuesday ahead of his Turnbull start. He finished sixth when resuming in the Makybe Diva Stakes over 1600 metres on September 12.

“He looks great, and he looks fit. I thought he looked to work very well this morning,” co-trainer Calvin McEvoy said.

“I think he’s going better (than last year). He has to step up to weight for age now and he is high in the handicaps and rating but I think his first up run in the Makybe Diva (Stakes) was fantastic.”

Half Yours has been assigned 59kg for this year’s Melbourne Cup, up from the 53kg he carried to victory under Jamie Melham in 2025.

This year’s 71 first acceptors compare with 60 in 2025, although nominations fell from 120 last year to 101. Thirteen overseas-trained horses remain, compared with 11 at the same stage last year.

Joseph O’Brien trains nine of the overseas acceptors. Four of them, Small Fry, Kizlyar, Omni Man and Starford, arrived in Melbourne over the weekend. Stinger Glass, trained by Japan’s Yasuo Tomomichi, is among the next group in pre-export quarantine.