Victorian trainer Tony McEvoy has Caulfield Cup plans for Caloundra Cup favourite Half Yours
The four-year-old Half Yours is the $3.70 favourite for the Caloundra Cup, ahead of Bear On The Loose ($4.60) and Don Diego De Vega ($6), with the rest of the field in double-figure odds.
McEvoy walked the Sunshine Coast track on Friday morning and predicted it would be in the Soft 6 range on Saturday when the Queensland winter carnival draws to a close.
A bottomless track would have better suited Half Yours, given he saluted in a Benchmark 78 (1800m) on a Heavy 8 at Rosehill in late May before finishing runner-up to Freight Train at the same track over 2000m on a soft surface on June 14.
'All horses can handle this ground but he won't be disadvantaged by this,' said McEvoy, who trains in partnership with his son Calvin.
'He's had some gut-busting runs and he's very fit so I'm not worried about that.
'The only obstacle he's got that I can see is he's untried at the trip. His pedigree says he should run the trip but pedigrees aren't everything.
'If he runs a mile-and-a-half then he looks a very strong winning chance. We're coming out of Benchmark races so we do have to step up.'
Belmont Bloodstock and McEvoy Mitchell Racing purchased Half Yours for $305,000 last November, with the McEvoys taking over his training from Victoria's leading trainer Ciaron Maher.
'He was a little bit busy when he came to us,' McEvoy said about Half Yours.
'Ciaron was excellent when we purchased the horse – he was the underbidder, I believe and he was disappointed he didn't retain him.
'Ciaron desperately wanted to keep him and I don't know how we beat him to be honest.
'He dropped the ball there but I'm glad he did. Ciaron said 'look he's very immature but he's a nice, young horse'.
'He was always on the bounce a bit at trackwork and wanting to do a little bit more than what you wanted but that's just immaturity. He's getting better all the time.'
Trainer Tony McEvoy gives a rundown on Half Yours and Charming Nic ahead of his first Caloundra Cup meeting at the Sunshine Coast.
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And if Half Yours keeps improving at a rapid rate, then the $5m Group 1 Caulfield Cup will come into the picture, possibly in October but more likely in 2026.
The primary spring target for Half Yours will be the $500,000 Listed Ballarat Cup (2000m) on December 6.
'Hopefully we can win this race (Caloundra Cup) to get this rating up to a place that will help him in the spring,' McEvoy said.
'He won't be there at the start of the (spring) carnival because he's up here (in Queensland) now.
'It's all getting pushed back a bit now which is helpful to him.
'Is he a Caulfield Cup horse this year? I don't know but he's got all that to look forward to.
'He's a sound horse and I'm very excited about him.'
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