News

Kerrin McEvoy hoping Jackson can deliver Inglis Nursery prize

10th Dec 2015

Sydney Morning Herald - Adam Pengilly - Thursday, 10 December 2015

After having been able to hand pick the best of Darley's two-year-old arsenal for years, Kerrin McEvoy's wide-ranging pursuit of another autumn major may come a little closer to home.

The irony in spreading himself across many stables as a freelance rider is that perhaps his best chance of feature race success could be from Jackson, trained by his uncle Tony McEvoy and an entrant in the $500,000 Inglis Nursery at Randwick on Saturday.

Boasting a sparkling two-year-old resume which includes riding all five juvenile group 1 winners in 2011 (Sepoy, Helmet and Benfica), McEvoy partnered the listed winner at Sandown on debut in the hope of unearthing another autumn player.

"There's options there for him once we can get a good read on him," McEvoy said. "We're still a little unsure where he sits.

"But we're at the trials and hopping on as many as we can. I've been riding a few for Gerald [Ryan], a few for Gai [Waterhouse] and a few for the Snowdens [Peter and Paul].

"There are some nice ones going forward and Slumber Party was a nice trial winner the other day. It's an exciting time of year with some nice races coming up."

If McEvoy wasn't surprised to see Jackson sail to victory at his first career start, punters certainly were. The Not A Single Doubt $76,000 Inglis Classic graduate was sent out a $21 chance in the Merson Cooper Stakes.

The stable confidence might have suggested he was a better hope than his price and bookmakers are still a little unsure about his standing with $12 being on offer with Ladbrokes for the Inglis Nursery.

"Without being overconfident [Tony] said he would run well and he was able to get the job done," McEvoy said. "I think Saturday is going to tell us more and he's the type of horse that will improve with time.

"By no means is he the finished two-year-old article yet and he is still very raw. You would be taking him on trust again, but he's more than likely to have been improved with that run. I still think this trip is his minimum."

Paul Perry's Gimcrack Stakes runner-up Jeanneau holds slender favouritism at $4.80 with Mick Price's unraced Extreme Choice the $5 second pick.

But McEvoy is more guarded about a horse with race experience in Bede Murray's Rafha's Choice, which is unbeaten in two starts.

"There's some other winning form in the race and some smart two-year-olds, headed by the horse that Blake's on [Rafha's Choice]," McEvoy said. "But I'm happy tp be on [Jackson] and you would think he would go there and be competitive."

McEvoy's Villiers Stakes mount Red Excitement will be using a similar stretch of the track which produced a bevy of winners at Randwick last week after drawing barrier 20 for the group 2 feature.

"He's a big bold goer and as Randwick showed the other day you almost want to be out there anyway," McEvoy said. "If you can get a bit of cover before turning for home it might not be the worst spot to be."​