Three-time Melbourne Cup-winning jockey with more than 2,000 winners to his name in Australia answers the questions
Three-time Melbourne Cup-winning jockey Kerrin McEvoy was still an apprentice when becoming the second-youngest rider to claim Australia’s greatest race on Brew in 2000.
The boy from the small fishing community of Streaky Bay, South Australia, won the prize again on Almandin in 2016 and in 2018, when he partnered Cross Counter, thereby renewing his successful association with the Godolphin team, for whom he had ridden as number two jockey behind Frankie Dettori for five years in Britain.
In that time he rode ten G1 winners, including Rule Of Law in the 2004 St Leger. He also partnered three winners at Royal Ascot, the pick of them his victory on Shamardal in the 2005 St James’s Palace Stakes, when the meeting was transferred to York.
McEvoy, 41, has ridden over 2,000 winners in Australia and registered his 80th Australian G1 victory aboard Huetor in May 2022.
Which racing figure past or present do you most admire?
The daddy of them all, Frankie Dettori. His record speaks for itself. He’s been able to maintain a high level of consistency over many seasons. It was a dream come true as a young kid to be understudy to one of the world’s best.
Which is your favourite venue and race anywhere in the world?
I have to say Flemington. It’s been an important track for me over the years, starting off there as a young kid and being able to win three Melbourne Cup it will always have a special place in my heart. It’s one of the biggest and best tracks of Australian racing. The Melbourne Cup was the race that captured my imagination as a youngster and it would have to be my favourite race.
Who is your favourite racehorse and why?
Winx, given her amazing win record and from the way she was able to demolish fields of a pretty high standard throughout her career and over a number of distances. To win four Cox Plates is a remarkable achievement. I rode her in a few g
allops but I wasn’t able to get my leg over her on a racecourse. She was already up and going by then. She was a beast.
What is your fondest memory in racing?
It would have to be my first winner on a horse called Attrice. It was the Easter weekend of 1997 at a little track called Ceduna. It’s a dirt track, an hour north of Streaky Bay. It was an exciting day. It was only a small field. I think it was my 13th or 14th ride.
If you could change one thing in racing, what would it be?
Our racing in Australia is going gangbusters in terms of prize-money and people entering into the industry. Our model in regards to turnover and the prize-money that is injected back in through the TAB is what provides such high levels of prize-money. I wish that Britain would follow our model. It’s disappointing to see where the prize-money levels are at there. We have maidens running in Wyong, which is a provincial track, for A$40,000 ($27,000/£22,000). The model in Britain needs restructuring.
Kerrin McEvoy was speaking to Jon Lees
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