Excitement builds around Yellow Jersey’s return

Yellow Jersey kept Half Yours company at Sandown on Saturday and Calvin McEvoy thinks there was some symmetry in the pair having a workout together on the eve of their spring return.

Half Yours taught McEvoy and his training partner, father Tony, what it was like to deal with pressure ahead of the carnival’s biggest events last year and that is the level they hope to get to with Yellow Jersey.

The McEvoys have Cox Plate aspirations with the high-priced import, who resumes in this Saturday’s $200,000 Listed Heatherlie Handicap at Caulfield.

“He’s very untapped and he comes with a very big profile, which comes with pressure, I think,” Calvin McEvoy said.

“He cost a lot of money and the horse needs to come out and perform.

“Imports don’t always do that, but I believe that we’ve seen enough from him that has shown us that he’s a really good horse.

“He needs to go to the races and perform and I’m hoping that he can be another headline horse for us.”

The 1700-metre Heatherlie Handicap will be just the sixth outing for Yellow Jersey, who won his first three starts in France before a second placing over 2200m at Group 2 level before being exported to Australia.

His lone run in Australia was a narrow second placing in the Listed Wayne Wilson Stakes (1600m) at Eagle Farm on June 13.

The McEvoys contemplated a start in the Group 1 Memsie Stakes (1400m) for Yellow Jersey, but are keen to look after his rating and keep options open given he is also entered for the Caulfield Cup, a 2400m Group 1 handicap for which weights are yet to be released.

“If he were to run sharp in that sort of race, there’s a chance he’d get eight to 10 (ratings) points and we thought that was a low percentage play,” Calvin said.

Yellow Jersey held a slight edge over Half Yours at the end of Saturday’s track gallop, which was the continuation of a preparation aimed at a return in the Makybe Diva Stakes for last year’s Caulfield Cup/Melbourne Cup champion.

“He was a little bit fresh in behind, travelled very strongly and couldn’t have worked any nicer,” McEvoy said of Half Yours.

“He had a healthy blow, he gets one more trial this coming Friday and then goes into the Makybe Diva Stakes first-up.

“He’s exactly where you want him to be.”

The $750,000 Makybe Diva Stakes (1600m) will be run at Flemington on September 12.