Buoyed by a successful midweek raid, Tony and Calvin Mcevoy will unveil a pair of Metropolitan hopefuls at Rosehill including the pre-post favourite for the Group One staying feature.
The McEvoys produced Prestar for a win at Wednesday’s Randwick Kensington meeting and will saddle up 2024 South Australian Derby heroine Coco Sun and relatively recent stable addition Half Yours in the Mounties Group Handicap (1500m) on Saturday.
The latter has been a revelation since joining the team this year winning three of his five starts, culminating in his 4-1/2 length romp in the Listed Caloundra Cup (2400m) in July.
“He has been incredible. He’s exciting us,” Tony McEvoy said.
“He has come through the benchmarks and then he won that Caloundra Cup really impressively.
“I don’t want to be rude about the race but I’m not sure where that sits when you start talking about ‘Metrops’ and those races, but the market has got him favourite for it so I am very buoyed by that and the horse is fabulous.
“He hasn’t been out of training so he will run in that race on Saturday and then go to the Kingston Town (Stakes) and ‘Metrop’.”
Half Yours has been backed into $7 favouritism for The Metropolitan (2400m) on October 4 and is a $4 top pick for Rosehill despite drawing barrier 20.
Coco Sun was also handed a tough gate in18 and while underwhelmed by their alleys, McEvoy said the recent wet weather had interrupted their respective build-ups and both needed to get started.
“We have tinkered a little bit with their preparations already with the changing of the trials so I don’t think I can change again, otherwise I am going to get too far behind with them,” he said.
“We will probably run them. Barriers win you races, don’t they? But I’ve got Ashley Morgan and the young apprentice (Braith Nock) that is riding beautifully.
“Those guys are making good decisions so I’ll just let them ride the horse and hope for a bit of luck.”
Coco Sun hasn’t won since the Derby but wasn’t disgraced in some strong races last spring.
Being a heavy mare, McEvoy said it was imperative she had rain-affected ground and the firm conditions were the reason for her failure in the Tattersall’s Tiara (1400m) at Eagle Farm in June when she jarred up.
He is adamant she is showing all the right signs at home but wants to see her produce under race conditions.
“She has got to start doing it race day. I couldn’t be happier with her and all the data we do is telling us she is as good as when she was ‘good’,” he said.
Coco Sun is also on a Metropolitan path and is a $26 chance for the Group 1.
