Major obstacle as champ eyes wild 71-year Caulfield Cup first
Half Yours has already cemented his name in horse racing’s history books.
Last year the gelding became just the 13th stayer to do the Caulfield-Melbourne Cups double, carrying Jamie Melham on his back as she became the second female jockey to win the iconic 3200m race at Flemington on the first Tuesday in November.
Jamie Melham rides Half Yours to win the Lexus Melbourne Cup last year. Getty
On Saturday, he can become the first runner in 71 years to win consecutive Caulfield Cups.
He can also become only the third horse in racing’s history to win two straight Caulfield Cups with a Melbourne Cup victory sandwiched in between.
Poseidon first did it in 1907, and Rising Fast matched the remarkable feat in 1955.
That 1955 victory by Rising Fast was also the last time a horse won consecutive Caulfield Cups.
If Half Yours is to break the 71-year hoodoo at Caulfield on Saturday, he will have to do it carrying 5kg more than he did in the same race last year.
“The history of the Caulfield Cup shows that it can be won by a topweight and that gives us confidence,” trainer Calvin McEvoy said of the 57.5kg handicap.
“Comparing that to the Melbourne Cup, it is a much more difficult task, but at the end of the day, we have an elite stayer that is great at 2400 and 3200 metres.
“If we’re too scared to run with big weights, we’ll be leaving him at home in the box.”
Calvin trains Half Yours along with his dad Tony McEvoy, who believes the horse is in good order to contest the 150th Caulfield Cup this week.
“We’re really happy, we are really pleased,” Tony McEvoy told Racing.com this week.
“There is no rain around now. We were hoping to get some rain earlier in the week, but that hasn’t come.
Jamie Melham (centre) with the co-trainers of Half Yours, Calvin (left) and Tony McEvoy after winning last year’s Caulfield Cup. Getty Images
“But the horse is well, we’re just really excited to have him back at a mile and a half.
“It’s his comfort zone, it is where he performs his best, at 2400m and above, and he’s drawn seven, so Mark will be able to give him a real switch-off run, and he will be there at the end.
“(I was) over the moon (with the barrier draw). He doesn’t have to make any decisions, and he can have the first 2000m at rest.”
If Half Yours is to create more history on Saturday, he won’t be sharing it with Melham. She chose to ride at Randwick this week instead of in Melbourne, and she is aboard Blue Door in the $20 million Everest.
“It was difficult,” Melham said on Seven last week of the decision to ditch the reigning Caulfield and Melbourne Cup champ.
“We didn’t know where Half Yours was 100 per cent running until last week. And I haven’t won an Everest yet, I want to add that to the mantelpiece.”
Ironically it will be Mark Zahra taking the ride on Saturday, who steered Without A Fight to the Cups double in 2023.
Caulfield Cup 2026 field
Odds via Sportsbet as of Friday morning
1. Half Yours ($11), 2. Cosmic Crusader ($4.80), 3. Treasurethe Moment ($35), 4. Kingswood ($21), 5. Knight’s Choice ($34), 6. Middle Earth ($26), 7. Enfjaar ($13), 8. Green Spaces ($31), 9. Royal Supremacy ($13), 10. Wine Dark Sea ($9), 11. Asterix ($61), 12. Saint George ($7.50), 13. Starford ($18), 14. She’s A Hustler ($17), 15. Soul Of Spain ($34), 16. Zahrann ($7.50), 17. Ohope Wins ($20), 18. Kings Valley ($34)
Emergencies: The Euphrates, Juja Kibo, Point Of Law, Mr Monaco
Caulfield-Melbourne Cups double winners
2025: Half Yours
2023: Without A Fight
2001: Ethereal
1997: Might And Power
1995: Doriemus
1991: Let’s Elope
1982: Gurner’s Lane
1966: Galilee
1962: Even Stevens
1954: Rising Fast
1939: Rivette
1937: The Trump
1906: Poseidon
