Tony and Calvin McEvoy plot Group 1 goals for Veight, as next wave of stable stars emerge

Resurgent Tony and Calvin McEvoy stable set to welcome back star Veight, a Group 1 colt-in-waiting and “boy grown into a man”.

Veight won the Mcneil Stakes last spring at Caulfield. Picture: Vince Caligiuri/Getty Images

Group 1 colt-in-waiting Veight will return to a resurgent Tony and Calvin McEvoy yard next week.

McEvoy senior has the powerful Grunt colt earmarked for a CF Orr and Futurity Stakes autumn raid before a Golden Eagle campaign later in the year.

“Calvin went and saw him (last Friday) and he sent me a video and he’s (Veight) a boy grown into a man, he’s lengthened now, he’s incredible, done beautifully,” McEvoy said.

“I’m going to get him back into the stable next week with maybe looking at the Australia Stakes, the (CF) Orr and the Futurity, with the long-term plan being the Golden Eagle.”

Veight won Group 3 McNeil Stakes last spring and was runner-up in the Group 1 Caulfield Guineas.

He finished fifth in the Coolmore Stud Stakes, beaten only 2.6 lengths.

“I wouldn’t rule out the Australian Guineas because he didn’t run a mile in the Caulfield Guineas but he will run a mile, he ran second, he ran really well and had his chance to win,” McEvoy said.

“We’re so excited to have a horse of his quality, he showed in those two runs, the Coolmore and the Caulfield Guineas, that he’s an elite level horse, we just got to find the right race.”

Veight largely carried the McEvoy stable on the big metropolitan stage the past two seasons but the $1m prizemoney earner has company with the next wave of exciting juveniles from the Ballarat yard.

Fresh off a treble to start Ballarat Cup day, with Sunset Dreaming, Arabian Summer and Give Giggles, McEvoy conceded he made a mistake trying to rebuild the stable after some high profile retirements.

McEvoy farewelled multiple Group 1 winners Sunlight and Hey Doc in 2020-21 respectively and with financial issues during the Covid era tried to spend less on slow maturing stock to replenish the yard.

The cost-cutting move misfired with a dearth of early city winners, the backbone of a successful racing operation.

“It’s my own fault, I ran out of money to buy, I was spending $12m, $13m, $8m, $10m at the sales to buy speed and I ran out of dough and it was too risky (to go) again,” McEvoy said.

“I changed my motto and said I’m going to buy horses to run over further, they’re going to be cheaper and they’re not going to be so much two-year-olds, well it killed me.

“For two years I did have many two-year-old winners, it just killed me, I had to go back, I was spending $5m and $6m so last year I went back and spent $10m, but it’s bloody hard.

“You got to do it yourself and then sell them, it’s a shocking model but you need two-year-olds, your two-year-olds set up the whole stable.”

A promising crop this season, Dublin Down, a Group 3 winner, Arabian Summer, twice stakes placed and Magic Millions Ballarat 2YO Classic winner, Blue Stratum and Rue De Royale, has boosted spirits.

“It’s given us a real lift this year,” McEvoy said.

“All of our two-year-olds have run really well, so I just got to keep robbing banks.”

Originally published as Tony and Calvin McEvoy plot Group 1 goals for Veight, as next wave of stable stars emerge