Why McEvoy "doubts" Half Yours can win All Aged

2025 Caulfield Cup-Melbourne Cup winner Half Yours is resuming on Saturday at Randwick in the Group 1 All Aged Stakes (1400m).

The Tony & Calvin McEvoy-trained stayer is currently $23 with Sportsbet for the $1.5 million race, while Angel Capital is the $4.60 favourite. Alongside Angel Capital, gun Group 1 winners Jimmysstar, Giga Kick, Fangirl, Briasa, Pericles and Beiwacht are also in the market.

Speaking on SENTrack & RSN’s Giddy Up, Calvin McEvoy admitted that the chances of the five-year-old winning the 1400m race are slim.

“I doubt (he can win),” the co-trainer admitted.

“Back in the day, it was a more of a normal thing to kick Melbourne Cup winners off over 1400m, but I think those fields were probably a lot of stayers resuming, whereas now we're getting the TJ Smith field effectively running.

“So, I'm not going to sit here and say that he can beat horses like Giga Kick, Briasa and Jimmysstar over 1400m.

“(Also), unfortunately no rain for us, which would have enhanced his chances.

“But what I will say is, if you were just training the horse without knowing what he was, I'll tell you what, he's going well and he's nice and sharp… He's drawn well and I think he'll run probably better than what a lot of people would expect.”

Coming off his excellent spring campaign, the Cups double winner will need to step up to weight-for-age grade this autumn.

While some pundits have questioned whether the gelding will be able to make the leap, the co-trainer is certain that Half Yours has made significant improvements across his spell.

“No doubt, (he’s improved),” McEvoy stated.

“He's a very, very good horse, and he showed in the Turnbull (2000m) that he's a weight-for-age horse.

“You know, arguably had he jumped clean, he goes very close to Via Sistina in that race, and that was probably not an ideal prep for a 2000m weight-for-age race.

“He's a remarkable horse, like he won the Caulfield Cup, and I thought he presented better in the Melbourne Cup and probably ran better.

“So, he's a good horse and he can do pretty good things, I think.”

Regarding his autumn preparation, McEvoy revealed that the chestnut will be following a similar Queensland campaign to last year which helped him dominate the spring.

“His programme is pretty set in stone - he'll go to Queensland after Saturday, and he'll run in the Hollindale (1800m), and then the Doomben Cup (2000m), and then the Q22 (2200m),” the co-trainer stated.

Regarding the stayer’s main target for the spring, he will be gunning for the Group 1 Cox Plate (2040m) at Flemington.

“He'll head towards the Cox Plate,” McEvoy confirmed.

“It was nice, selfishly nice, to see that Autumn Glow probably won't go there, but obviously now Sir Delius is there, so it's going to be a tough race.”

Sir Delius is the $3.50 favourite for the Cox Plate with Sportsbet, while Half Yours is $11.

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