Cup pair are back together
KERRIN McEvoy will be reunited with Almandin for the first time since their 2016 Melbourne Cup victory in Saturday’s Group 1 $1.5 million Tancred Stakes at Rosehill Gardens as Hugh Bowman prepares for an international riding stint that could include Winx at Royal Ascot.
Bowman will ride in Sydney until April 21 and then leave to take up a riding contract in Japan through to the end of May.
The world’s top-rated jockey could have an extended period overseas, with a decision expected as early as today on whether champion mare Winx will race at England’s Royal Ascot meeting in June.
Bowman will be chasing a third successive Tancred Stakes on Saturday when he partners veteran stayer Who Shot Thebarman. The jockey has won the race on Preferment (2016) and Jameka (2017), as well as Fiveandahalfstar (2013).
There are 12 early entries for the nation’s premier 2400m weight-for-age race, including owner Lloyd Williams’s duo, Almandin and The Taj Mahal.
Williams has asked McEvoy to ride Almandin for the first time since the pair combined to win the 2016 Melbourne Cup.