Champion jockey Kerrin McEvoy is warming up nicely for a massive Queensland Winter Carnival
Champion jockey Kerrin McEvoy is back on his 'good hunting ground' and primed to make an impact in this year's lucrative Queensland Winter Carnival.
The Melbourne Cup-winning hoop has won 16 Group 1 races in the Sunshine State but will be looking to break a three-year drought after his last feature in Queensland came in the 2022 Doomben Cup (2100m) aboard Huetor.
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McEvoy started on the right foot with an impressive pre-carnival victory in the $160,000 Princess Stakes (1600m) for three-year-old fillies with Philia at Eagle Farm on Saturday.
The 44-year-old had seven rides on Saturday but he said he specifically came to Brisbane to familiarise himself with the Queensland Oaks-bound Philia for David Vandyke.
'She's headed on an Oaks path, all being well, and Dave is a pretty good judge and he can train a good horse so I'm happy to come up and give her a go,' said McEvoy, who won his first Group 1 in Queensland in 2001, riding Juanmo to victory in the TJ Smith (1600m).
'I rode a lot for David when he was in Sydney. We've had a bit of luck together.
'We haven't won a major together but it's nice to get an opportunity for Dave on a horse that he likes.
'She's showing nice promise and looks to be on an upward curve.'
McEvoy missed last year's winter carnival after suffering a fractured vertebrae in an ugly fall on Golden Slipper Day at Rosehill Gardens during the autumn.
He also skipped the 2020 winter carnival because of Covid restrictions.
'It's been a good hunting ground for me over the past few years and I missed out last year because I was coming back from injury,' he said.
'It's been a good place for me to ride some winners and hopefully I can do the same this year.'
McEvoy is expected to retain the ride on Philia for the $700,000 Group 1 Queensland Oaks (2200m) at Eagle Farm on June 7.
Ladbrokes has listed Philia and the Nathan Doyle-trained Churchill's Choice as $7 chances for the Oaks, behind current favourite Benagil ($6), which convincingly won the $1m Group 1 Australasian Oaks (2000m) in Adelaide on Saturday.
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