McEvoy savours second Melbourne Cup win

Kerrin McEvoy is savouring winning his second Melbourne Cup and says it is better this time around.

McEvoy won his first Cup on Brew 16 years ago as a 20-year-old and on Tuesday the star jockey prevailed on Almandin after a thrilling battle with Irish horse Heartbreak City and champion Hong Kong-based jockey Joao Moreira over the final 200m.

‘It feels a little bit better, which seems crazy,” McEvoy said.

“Just given the race has got bigger and I think the achievement of winning two is hard to do. So that’s why it might be just a bit more of a cherry on the top.”

McEvoy was keen to secure the ride on the Lloyd Williams-owned and Robert Hickmott-trained Almandin after the import’s win at its most recent start in The Bart Cummings (2500m) at Flemington a month ago.

“I was able to lock him in soon after that win, that night I think it was,” McEvoy said.

“He just looked like he had the right profile. I was pretty pleased to be on him. He had a nice freshen up into the race and with 52 kilos on his back it just looked like he was always going to be in the finish and I just needed to ride him properly. Lucky for me I was able to give him a good ride.

“I’m just really pumped. The race has grown in stature so I’m just over the moon to be able to achieve it again.

“Thanks to Lloyd and Rob Hickmott and having faith in me to be able to get the job done on a horse was just primed for the race.”

McEvoy’s wife Cathy and their three boys were not at Flemington on Tuesday.

Cathy is still in Sydney and expecting their fourth child.

“It was funny, the kids were going to school this morning. In other years they’ve been down here and they haven’t been at school with the build up,” McEvoy said.

“This morning one of the boys, Jake, said ‘I wonder if any of the other kids fathers are riding in the race?’ And Cathy said, ‘I don’t think so’. Obviously they would have gained a bit of notoriety now their dad’s the winning jockey.”