Darley’s number one jockey Kerrin McEvoy has declared himself fit and will resume riding at Rosehill on Saturday.
Kerrin McEvoy has declared himself fit to ride at Rosehill on Saturday. Photo by Race Horse Photos Australia.
McEvoy has been on the sidelines since injuring his knee in a fall in New Zealand on January 26 and had to watch as the Peter Snowden trained Earthquake ran away with the Group 1 $1m Sportingbet Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield last Saturday.
As stable rider for the Darley team, McEvoy would have been aboard the Exceed And Excel filly last weekend as well as her win in the Group 3 $150,000 Sportingbet Blue Diamond Prelude (Fillies) (1100m) at Caulfield on February 8 at her previous start.
McEvoy ride in four barrier trials for Snowden at Randwick on Monday and then fronted up for track work on Tuesday morning before declaring himself fit to ride on Saturday.
“It’s come through good,” McEvoy told Racenet.
“I rode work again this morning so I’m ready to go.
“Every day I jump aboard one it feels better and I’m going to have three or four on the weekend.”
McEvoy said that it was hard to be a spectator when Earthquake cruised to the front on Saturday, but he was happy for the whole team to grab another Group 1 victory.
“She was pretty dominant,” McEvoy said.
“I was thrilled with the win for the team but obviously it was hard sitting there and not being a part of it.
“She’s so professional. I loved seeing how well she handled the whole thing, both before and during the race.”
McEvoy will also ride in Sydney the following week and bypass the Australian Cup – Newmarket Handicap meeting at Flemington to ride the stable’s star three year old filly Guelph in the Group 2 $175,000 Surround Stakes (1400m) at Warwick Farm.
Sydney based Tim Clark will ride the much improved Knoydart in the Group 1 $1m Lexus Newmarket Handicap (1200m) while Chris Symons will ride stablemate Albrecht.
Guelph finished a disappointing sixth after being caught three wide at her first run from a spell in the Group 2 $175,000 Red Lea Chickens Light Fingers Stakes (1200m) at Randwick last Saturday when ridden by Hugh Bowman.
Snowden said that the run wasn’t as bad as it looked and was critical with the ride saying that Bowman had Guelph too close to the lead and he would have preferred her to be ridden back in the field.
“Guelph was ridden out of her comfort zone,’’ Snowden told The Daily Telegraph.
“She is not a speed horse, that is not her racing style.
“For the punters who backed her it was disappointing but she is a superstar and I’m confident she will bounce back.’’
“Hughie made a mistake by not going back on her.”
“We talked about it and he put his hand up. It’s just not the way to ride her.”
McEvoy was aboard Guelph when the pair collected a Group 1 double in the Spring with wins in the $400,000 Coolmore Flight Stakes (1600m) at Randwick on October 5 and the $500,000 Schweppes Thousand Guineas (1600m) at Caulfield eleven days later.
