Latest news with #CalvinMcEvoy
News.com.au
16-07-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
Smart debut winner Volkano to test credentials in Group 3 Sires' Produce Stakes at Morphettville Parks
After putting his rivals to the sword in a crushing debut win, well-bred gelding, Volkano, is set to give the Sires' Produce Stakes a shake at Morphettville on Saturday. Volkano led from barrier to box to score a 4½ length win at Ballarat last Tuesday, way too sharp for his rivals over 1200m on the synthetic track. • PUNT LIKE A PRO: Become a Racenet iQ member and get expert tips – with fully transparent return on investment statistics – from Racenet's team of professional punters at our Pro Tips section. SUBSCRIBE NOW! Prepared by Tony and Calvin McEvoy, the stable has always had a big opinion of the two-year-old, who is by Too Darn Hot, out of stakes-winning mare Volks Lightning. He was a $425,000 yearling purchase at the 2024 Magic Millions Sale on the Gold Coast. 'He's come through it really well, obviously he was very impressive,' Calvin McEvoy, who trainers in partnership with father Tony, said. 'I don't know if he beat much that day, but as they say, you can only win, can't you? 'He's trained on nicely since that, it's a little bit of an aggressive placement, but there wasn't really the perfect race for him over here. 'He's obviously very well bred, we are going to give him a go, throw him in the deep end a little bit. 'There's only 13 nominations, there doesn't look to be a standout in the race, for that reason, it's a good opportunity to have a go at a Group 3 worth $150k.' The Volkano has erupted! Great to see Volkano win so stylishly on debut for @mcevoymitchell and owners! ðŸ'� ðŸ'� ðŸ'� @BelmontBldstck — MyRacehorseAU (@MyRacehorseAU) July 8, 2025 • A gelding operation has seen Volkano start to piece it together, and while the preference was to leave him as a colt, the ultimate gear change may prove key to untapping his potential. 'We didn't want to (geld him), you pay a good bit of money for a colt with a pedigree like his, but he just wasn't putting his efforts into the right places,' McEvoy said. 'For that reason he had to be gelded, and it looks like it's going to be the making of the horse.' SA young gun Jacob Opperman will pilot Volkano in Saturday's Group 3 Sires' Produce Stakes (1400m) on the Parks circuit. The McEvoy stable has won the race five times, twice as a father-son duo (2020, '22) alongside Tony's three earlier wins (2013, '17 and '19). 'He's going there as good as he can be, and we are looking forward to seeing where he fits,' McEvoy said.
News.com.au
05-07-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
Tony McEvoy dreaming of Caulfield Cup after securing Caloudra Cup with Half Yours
Victorian trainer Tony McEvoy 's ultimate goal of taking Half Yours to the Caulfield Cup moved a step closer to reality on Saturday when the tough gelding emphatically won the $300,000 Listed Caloundra Cup (2400m) at the Sunshine Coast. McEvoy wasn't sure whether $3.50 favourite Half Yours would run the 2400m but those doubts were convincingly put to bed on a soft track at Corbould Park. The four-year-old finished 4½ lengths ahead of Bear On The Loose ($4.20), with the Tony Gollan-trained Felix The Scat ($17) another two lengths back, to rubberstamp his Caulfield Cup credentials. It is unlikely Half Yours will be ready for this year's $5m Caulfield Cup on October 18 but next year's edition will be front of mind for Tony McEvoy and his training partner and son Calvin. 'When you look at his form and how he's kept progressing, to come out and do what he did there (in the Caloundra Cup), I mean that was a dominant win,' Tony McEvoy said. 'Of course this is a long way from the Caulfield Cup, I'm a realist. 'But we've bought this horse (for $305,000), he's the right age and if he's well then we'll head down that path (Caulfield Cup) and we can always divert. 'There are so many options, aren't there? But you've got to have a target and the Caulfield Cup is a pretty good one to target.' Half?! It's all his today! Half Yours explodes away and leaves them standing in the Listed Caloundra Cup! ðŸ'¨ And it's a @SCTurfClub double to @mcevoymitchell and @AshMorgan6! 🙌 â€' SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) July 5, 2025 Belmont Bloodstock and McEvoy Mitchell Racing purchased Half Yours last November, with the McEvoys taking over his training from Victoria's leading trainer Ciaron Maher. 'Ciaron was the underbidder and he was disappointed he didn't retain him,' McEvoy told Racenet earlier this week. 'He dropped the ball there but I'm glad he did.' It was a terrific day for winning Welsh-born jockey Ash Morgan, who had earlier saluted for the McEvoys on Mr Verse in the opening race. 'It was a muddily run race,' Morgan said about the Caloundra Cup, won last year by Angela Jones on Mission Of Love. 'Bailey (Wheeler on Nikau Spur) went for it in the race which allowed me to flow into it. 'When I went for him he exploded. I think he's a proper horse. 'His strength is that he relaxes really well in the run and has an explosive turn of foot. He put them to bed. 'Down in the weights, and there's a lot of good races over two miles, there's not really any ceiling for that. 'Thanks to Tony for four rides today and they were all immaculately prepared and they all ran enormous. 'My first rides for the stable and hopefully not my last.'
News.com.au
16-06-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
NSW apprentice Courtney Bellamy starts three-month stint with Tony and Calvin McEvoy at Ballarat
Ballarat's notoriously frigid winter confronted apprentice Courtney Bellamy as soon as she arrived to start a three-month loan spell with trainers Tony and Calvin McEvoy. Bellamy met Hollywood leading man Chris Hemsworth in bright sunshine in Brisbane last spring but has spent the past three weeks getting used to icy kickback when riding on the Ballarat Synthetic track. But that's the journey upon which the Coffs Harbour native has embarked to improve her riding. The daughter of successful northern NSW trainer Brett Bellamy arrived at Ballarat with 88 wins to her name but is keen to develop her skills under the tutelage of the Group 1 -winning trainers. • PUNT LIKE A PRO: Become a Racenet iQ member and get expert tips – with fully transparent return on investment statistics – from Racenet's team of professional punters at our Pro Tips section. SUBSCRIBE NOW! 'Tony and dad go way back to their younger years and Tony said, 'I'll take Courtney and help her and support her and give her the best opportunity she can have',' Bellamy said. 'It was a really good opportunity to experience a new state and learn some more things to add to my resume and experience some new racing. 'I'm living in Ballarat and Tony and Calvin have given me a nice little house to live in so it's great.' • Bedggood set to unveil St Lawrence at Flemington Bellamy had her first ride in Victoria at last Saturday's Sandown meeting aboard the McEvoy-trained Dillinger and while the gelding was unable to give Bellamy a dream start, the young jockey said she had already learned a few things – including to always dress warm at Ballarat. 'Let's just say I couldn't feel my feet when I first got here,' Bellamy said. 'The different ways of training here have been a bit of an eye-opener. 'Coming from a country track, we probably do things a little bit different because we are limited in training tracks at home. 'I can say I enjoy burning up the hill track at Ballarat. That's quite fun.' Bellamy arrived in Victoria alongside her partner Bradley Wheeler but is living on her own while Wheeler competes on the Australian professional bull riding circuit. Wheeler won an Australian bull riding title last year and was in action in Newcastle last Saturday night.
News.com.au
16-05-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
‘His wheels spin': Tony McEvoy worried about heavy track for Veight in Group 1 Doomben 10,000
Tony McEvoy is worried about the prospect of a heavy surface for Saturday's Group 1 Doomben 10,000, lamenting that Veight's 'wheels spin' on bottomless tracks. The Victorian trainer also admits that Group 1 champion Veight is behind in his preparation for the Queensland winter carnival and should improve significantly from the 1200m run at Doomben. With showers predicted in Brisbane for Friday and Saturday, it would not surprise if the Doomben track is downgraded to heavy on race day. 'He's won on soft ground but his wheels spin on heavy tracks,' McEvoy said about Veight, who was $34 to win the Doomben 10,000 on Friday morning. 'If it's heavy it'll take a few lengths off him but if it's in the soft range then he'll be fine. 'I'd say the conditions are his biggest threat.' Veight was gelded after the $10m Golden Eagle (1500m) at Rosehill Gardens in November when he finished second-last out of 20 runners following a poor spring campaign by his high standards. He was flying in the autumn last year, finishing runner-up to now retired stallion Southport Tycoon in the $1m Group 1 Australian Guineas (1600m) before winning his only major, the George Ryder Stakes (1500m). 'He had probably his first really good, long spell, he's come back gelded and he's a different horse now,' said McEvoy, who trains in partnership with his son Calvin. 'He's a bit behind where I was hoping to be with him to be quite honest coming into the 10,000. He'll run well but I think he'll show nice improvement out of this race. 'He just hasn't come up as quickly as I thought he would. He's very good fresh, he's three (wins) from four, but to my eye I reckon he's going to need this run.' • McEvoy said the decision to geld Veight was made easier after his stallion prospects dwindled, despite his triumph in the George Ryder Stakes last year. 'When you win a Group 1 you'd like the phone to ring and the phone just wasn't ringing,' the Ballarat trainer said. 'He obviously didn't have what people wanted so that made the gelding decision a bit easier. 'When you've got a colt with a nice pedigree and they win a proper Group 1 like the George Ryder, normally there's a bit of money attached to those but not in this case.' With regular rider Damian Lane away on a short-term contract in Japan, local jockey Andrew Mallyon will be on board Veight for the Doomben 10,000. 'He's not a hard horse to ride. Andrew's ridden a lot for me over the years so I'm happy to have him on,' McEvoy said. The trainer is confident that Veight will be back to his best for the Group 1 Kingsford Smith Cup (1300m) in a fortnight and then hopefully the Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) on June 14. 'I can't see why not. The horse seems normal to me at home. I think he's got a very good chance of getting back to that form,' McEvoy said.
