Dual Cup winner Half Yours has resumed for his autumn campaign, finishing ninth in the Group 1 All Aged Stakes (1400m) at Randwick.
The Tony and Calvin McEvoy-trained five-year-old faced a testing first-up assignment over a distance short of his best, but connections have come away encouraged by the performance.
Co-trainer Calvin McEvoy was pleased with how the gelding recovered from the run.
“(He’s pulled up) very well, very well… We’re really pleased with him,” McEvoy said on RSN’s Correct Weight.
“It was very exciting coming out of his first-up run in the All Aged in what was always going to be a difficult setup for him. His sectionals were fantastic. he came out of it with a bit of a black eye, and he was following the right horse in Angel Capital.
“He travelled very strongly, and then when they sprinted, he naturally didn’t have the sprint and got held up from the 600m to the 400m (but still) finished very well and got past an Everest winner late (Giga Kick). So, we’re very excited.
“He’s up in Queensland now and he actually had a little exhibition gallop (on Saturday) at the Sunshine Coast. He just bowled around and had a day out.”
Half Yours is now set to follow a clear Queensland campaign, beginning with the Group 2 Hollindale Stakes (1800m) on May 9.
He is then scheduled to step up to the Group 1 Doomben Cup (2000m) on May 23 before tackling the Group 2 Q22 (2200m) on June 13.
“That’s the plan,” McEvoy confirmed.
“And there’s a bit of rain around in Queensland, so hopefully that continues. The ground was a heavy 8 for his piece of work, which he loved.
“Gold Coast is probably unsuitable for his racing pattern, but if there’s some rain around, that’ll counter that.”
Half Yours is currently the $2.40 favourite for the Hollindale Stakes as he looks to build toward another major campaign.
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