![\"Ciaron](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/e5d53844e97d198b89cc48e225b4313386d3994f.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nEnter McEvoy. His son and co-trainer Calvin, and the stable\u2019s racing manager Rayan Moore were moved.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe ran the figures on it and it was a very impressive win on the figures we run,\u201d Moore said.<\/p>\n
Someone else shared that view, as the McEvoy stable would learn in November when the bids kept coming in the online sale run by bloodstock auction house Inglis. The price soared well above their initial expectation of about $200,000.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt $250,000, I was ready to stop,\u201d Tony McEvoy said. \u201cBut the boys pushed me hard.\u201d<\/p>\n
Said Moore: \u201cWe were all sitting in the office doing the online bidding. We were racking our brains who would be interested in the horse.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Ciaron Maher hugs Jamie Kah after winning a race for the late Colin McKenna on Victoria Derby Day.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Moore had an inkling they were bidding against Maher. They were right.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was just a good horse and our interest was vindicated by how he\u2019s gone,\u201d Maher told this masthead, confirming he was indeed the other bidder. \u201cI\u2019d much rather to still be training him and for Col to be still with us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Half Yours has banked another $470,000 since his purchase by the McEvoys. The winner\u2019s cheque on Saturday is worth $3 million, 10 times his auction price.<\/p>\n
McEvoy came agonisingly close to winning the Caulfield Cup in 2002 with Fields Of Omagh, beaten a lip by the champion Northerly.<\/p>\n
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The race has also eluded Melham, who has ridden in the race three times for a best placing of fourth on Prince Of Arran in 2020.<\/p>\n
Melham cut her teeth in South Australia riding for McEvoy. The pair dominated in that state. McEvoy won six trainers\u2019 premierships, and Melham three jockey titles.<\/p>\n
Melham, then known by her maiden name Kah, caught McEvoy\u2019s attention by regularly beating his horses.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought, \u2018If you can\u2019t beat them, join them\u2019,\u201d McEvoy said. \u201cI tried hard to get her to ride for me, and it eventually happened.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven back then, the people who knew her well knew she would get to the heights that she has. I was lucky enough to get her to ride for us. I was merely a vehicle on her journey.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t have much to do with her talents. She was extremely talented, very natural. Horses loved her and I just gave her opportunities, which helped me a lot as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very fond of her and feel she\u2019s closer to me than most because of that journey. I applaud her for what she does, she\u2019s amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Winning a race as famous as the Caulfield Cup with Melham would be extra special for McEvoy, given their association.<\/p>\n
\u201cColin Hayes taught me very early on \u2013 you\u2019ve got to surround yourself with good people if you\u2019re going to be as good as you can be,\u201d McEvoy said.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor a trainer to have someone like Jamie riding for you in an elite race, it just relaxes you in a way because she\u2019s been there before, knows the horse well, and you know she\u2019s going to do a bloody good job of it. It\u2019s really special to have her on the horse for us.\u201d<\/p>\n