‘I am just a jockey’
McEvoy plays down tag of greatest hoop
DON’T tell Kerrin McEvoy he’s something special. He won’t have a bar of it.
“When you strip it back, I’m a person who can ride horses very well ... but that doesn’t make me a better person. At the end of the day, I’m just a jockey,” says McEvoy, who will shoot for his third Melbourne Cup triumph when he rides imported stayer Red Cardinal tomorrow.
But speak to most involved in the thoroughbred industry and they’ll tell you McEvoy is much more than just a jockey. He’s a damn good one.
He’s also widely respected and acknowledged for his work ethic, professionalism and humble approach to a career in which he’s so richly skilled and has enjoyed remarkable success.
There’s no cockiness, no sense of self-importance.
A great bloke as well as a great rider.
And the fresh-faced 37year-old from Streaky Bay on the far west coast of South Australia has certainly achieved his fair share of turf greatness since he kicked off his riding career in 1997 as an apprentice jockey for his ‘pop’ Bill Holland.
As well as his dual Cup success – on Brew in 2000 then last year for Lloyd Williams on Almandin – McEvoy has an astonishing 64 Group 1 wins to his credit.
Just a few weeks ago he won the inaugural running of the world’s richest turf race, the $10 million The Everest on gritty sprinter Redzel at Randwick, helping McEvoy’s career prizemoney surge past $140m.
And earlier this year he was inducted into the prestigious SA Racing Hall Of Fame, alongside the likes of Bart Cummings, Colin Hayes, Pat Glennon and John Letts. Not bad for just a jockey. Along with big-name stars like Hugh Bowman and Damien Oliver, McEvoy is regarded among the top few jockeys in the nation – and many would suggest he deserves the No. 1 mantle on the back of a string of big-race successes in the past 12 months. While Bowman has won rave reviews for his association with the champion mare Winx, McEvoy has earned his stripes on a range of horses and for a variety of trainers. It’s that versatility that has many experts, including two-time Cup-winning jockey Letts, heaping praise on the hoop.
“It’s a real credit to him that he’s done so well as a freelance rider,” Letts says.
“He may not be the leading jockey in terms of wins but I think he’s the best when it comes to the big races – and that’s what makes him a champion.”
McEvoy’s father, Phillip, and his uncles, Tony and Peter, were jockeys. Phillip later trained and was a partowner of On A Jeune, who ran second in the 2005 Melbourne Cup behind Makybe Diva, while Tony is now one of Australia’s most respected trainers. McEvoy’s family ties to the racing industry strengthened even further in 2008 when he married former jockey Cathy Payne, the sister of 2015 Melbourne Cup-winning hoop Michelle Payne.
The couple now has four children – Charlie, 8, Jake, 7, Rhys 4 and Eva-Mae, whose first birthday falls tomorrow.
If Red Cardinal delivers Eva-Mae and McEvoy the ultimate birthday gift, the jockey will join Jim Johnson as the only SA jockey to win the Cup three times.
And McEvoy says the sixyear-old import, trained by German horseman Andreas Wohler, who won the 2014 Cup with Protectionist, has given every indication he is capable of fighting out the finish of the two-mile test.
“I’ve ridden him in work a couple of times. He’s a quality stayer and he’s travelled out here well,” he says.
“He’s got a change of gears when the question’s asked and that’s what you need for a stayer in a Melbourne Cup. He’s a good each-way chance.”