Read what the Jockeys and & Trainers said in Caulfield Cup 2025.
Winning Trainer: Tony & Calvin McEvoy
Tony:
On the win: “This is why we do it, to have a runner in these, and they’re bloody hard to win, and that was incredible.”
“He’s come a long way in six months, this fellow, hasn’t he? And travelling really grows horses up, and he was a big raw horse.”
“The way he came into the paddock today, he looked like he’d arrived as a stayer. And then he went and did that today, so it was very exciting.”
“I was so happy in the run, and then when mid-race that horse took off, I thought this is not ideal, because if someone panics, it dishevels everything.
“But then he got into his rhythm and did the rest. It was fabulous, and I’m looking forward to watching it again.”
Winning with son: “I think he might be nice to me for a little while now! Like it’s very important, like it’s quite a proud moment for me to be able to do it with Cal, and yeah, it’s a really enjoyable moment for me.”
“I mean, I was hoping he was going to be a doctor or something, but look, it was such a joy for me, for him to want to follow in my footsteps. In this business, you don’t own many things; in this business, what you’ve got is your intellectual property, and if you’ve got no one to pass it to, it’s gone.
“And so to have Cal seeing what I’ve done over my time and now take it to another level, and he’s added an immense arm to the business with the technology that they’ve got today. I’m a bit too old school myself for that stuff, so that’s what’s made us better. But this is extremely special, and it won’t be the last one of these, I’m sure.”
Seeing Calvin emotional: It means so much, doesn’t it?I mean that is raw emotion, and we work plenty hard in this game, and it’s lovely when it comes off.”
Calvin:
On the horse: “He’s just been so easy the whole way along. He’s been a horse that we’ve found really easy, and when we went to Queensland, it was the making of him.”
Winning a major with Dad: “In this game it’s really hard to get a start, and obviously I’m lucky to be in a privileged position.”
“I don’t know what to say. He’s supported me and given me an opportunity in this great game.”
Getting married this year: “I might be able to afford the wedding now!”
On Jamie Melham: “She’s class, and people have been saying she’s a little bit out of form and class is permanent. I want to thank Harry (Coffey), he’s part of the team as well and he’s done a lot of work on this horse, we’re just thrilled.”
Media build up all week: “I’m good now, by the way. He’s been hiding away in Ballarat all week, and I’ve been here, and he’s been ringing me and telling me to settle down, and I’ve just been in my own head.
“But anyway, the race we actually got further back than what we thought we would. No one expected that tempo from Adelaide River. The sun was in my eyes; I didn’t know where we were for half of it, but he’s a great horse. He’s a really good horse, and good horses do great things.”
Winning Jockey: Jamie Melham (Half Yours)
Pressure pre-race: “I’ve tried not to think about it for the last few days because I just wanted to come out here and ride him and give him the best ride I could because I knew he was the best horse in the race.”
“But everything was perfect; it worked out perfectly for him and he had to dig deep and he’s an absolute superstar horse. What Tony and Calvin have done with him, they’ve just made this absolute professional of a horse.”
“He’s push button; he doesn’t like jumping that well so I had to really get up him today, and he just spat the bit out and relaxed. Janice (McKenna) texted me yesterday and said she’d make sure Col would open those gaps for me, and he did, so thank you Col.”
To win a major: “Just saying Caulfield Cup is going to make me cry. I’ve had an incredible career and ridden 17 Group Ones now, but that major has obviously eluded me, and I just wanted to get one. But now I want maybe three more, maybe a Melbourne Cup. This horse is going to run the trip out!”
Beaten Jockeys:
Blake Shinn (Vauban): “I felt he was unsuited by the Caulfield track today. He was on his Sydney leg and just didn’t seem to corner that well on the corners, so the big flat track at Flemington will suit him much better.”
Stephane Pasquier (Presage Nocturne): “He finished good because he hadn’t run since four months (ago). It was good preparation for the Melbourne Cup.”
Mark Zahra (Middle Earth): “He was a bit dour. Travelled well probably until the half-mile then couldn’t pick up and was dour to the line.”
Andrea Atzeni (Meydaan): “I thought it was a good run, he just got a bit lost coming down the hill when the pace lifted. To be fair to him, once we straightened up he really finished strongly. Maybe the track’s a little bit tight for him.”
Ben Allen (Absurde): “Massive run. A little bit disappointed. We just copped interference right as he was picking up. If we hadn’t have copped that, he would have been right there in the finish.”
Jamie Mott (Land Legend): “He was obviously disappointing. He felt to me he was out of breath halfway, so he might be holding his breath.”
Harry Coffey (Zardozi): “She travelled like she was going to produce more in the straight but then was very one-paced and was probably peaking on her run with 100 to go. She’s racing dour and I think she needs a little bit of give in the ground.”
Jordan Childs (Adelaide River): “He just wanted to pull too hard during the early and middle stages and that affected his finish.”
Billy Egan (Bankers Choice): “He did really well. I think just a drop in grade, at this distance, I think he’s going good enough to put away a good country cup.”
Daniel Stackhouse (Deakin): “He ran well. I was just disappointed with him late, I thought he would have been a bit stronger. I had to use him to get out of that pocket I was in and put him in the race, I thought we were a big chance on the corner, blended into it nicely and just as little but disappointing late but we’ll keep pressing on.”
Suguru Hamanaka (Golden Snap): “I was quite hopeful so we’re quite disappointed. It felt like it was tougher than Japanese ground and he just didn’t handle it.”
Luke Currie (Revelare): “He raced a bit closer than what I’d hoped, but had a nice enough run. He just came straight off the bridle and didn’t pick up at all.”
Beau Mertens (River Of Stars): “Great run. She ran fantastic. Had a lovely run off a hot tempo, got held up a little bit rounding the home turn but I didn’t lose too much momentum and I was just really pleased with the way she sprinted through that gap. She was extremely tough and just happy to see her run really well.”
Teo Nugent (Birdman): “Began only fairly for me, was the first one loaded and probably went to sleep in the stalls. On the back foot early, had a nice run through, best work was late and loved the way he rounded off the race late.
Robbie Dolan (Royal Supremacy): “He finished the race off really good. It gives us options to go to the two miles on the first Tuesday. He just reared up a few times in the gates, just wanted to get on with the job and did race a little bit keen for a few strides but hit the line really good.”
Jye McNeil (Valiant King): “The barrier’s probably cost him winning to be honest. Absolute epic un for a Melbourne Cup.”
Celine Gaudray (Plymouth): “Really honest run from a young horse. From the wide draw we were able to get into a beautiful position but he’ll be one to look out for this time next year.”
