Sixteen years after first winning the Melbourne Cup South Australian jockey Kerrin McEvoy has again risen to the summit of Australian horse racing.

SA JOCKEY Kerrin McEvoy won his first Cup in 2000. On Tuesday, it was a family affair as he saluted again.

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SIXTEEN years after first winning the Melbourne Cup as a fresh-faced 20-year-old, South Australian jockey Kerrin McEvoy has again risen to the summit of Australian horse racing.

McEvoy, born in the small fishing town of Streaky Bay on the state’s west coast, produced the ride of a champion to navigate $11 chance Almandin to a slugging victory for Lloyd Williams, giving the mega-rich owner a record fifth success.

Williams had previously saluted with Just A Dash (1981), What A Nuisance (1985), Efficient (2007) and Green Moon (2012).

To add another SA flavour to the win, Almandin is prepared by Robert Hickmott, whose father, John, is a successful trainer based in Murray Bridge. But McEvoy was the star of the show, delivering a near-perfect ride on Almandin in front of 97,479 racegoers at the famed Flemington track, after clinching his maiden Cup triumph in 2000 aboard Brew for trainer Michael Moroney.

The front bar at the Streaky Bay Hotel celebrate their jockey Kerrin McEvoy’s Cup win on Almandine.

McEvoy timed his run beautifully yesterday, allowing the horse to settle into his rhythm then weaving a passage between runners before allowing the bold-striding, Ger-man bred gelding to unleash a devastating finishing burst halfway down the home straight. Almandin and foreign invader Heartbreak City went stride for stride over the final 250m, with McEvoy’s mount edging clear to snare a memorable victory.

The 16-year gap between winning rides is the longest in the Cup’s 156-year history.

McEvoy immediately paid tribute to his wife, Cathy, the sister of last year’s Cup-winning jockey Michelle Payne. Cathy is due to give birth to the couple’s fourth child on Monday and watched the race from their home in Sydney.

“(I hope) she didn’t cheer too hard and pop the baby out,” McEvoy said as he returned to the mounting yard in front of a bubbling Melbourne crowd. “It’s funny, when I spoke to Lloyd the other day he said, ‘When is the baby due?’ and I said, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll be there on Tuesday regardless of the situation’.

“Cathy was aware of that.

Cathy McEvoy with children Charlie, 7, Jake, 6 and Rhys, 3 at their Sydney home. Picture: Adam Taylor

“She has been handling the brunt of the workload with the kids in Sydney while I’ve been down here riding winners in Melbourne. So I’d like to thank you, my lovely wife.”

Michelle Payne, who was without a ride in the Cup, was among the throng of well-wishers to congratulate McEvoy as he dismounted. “It’s so exciting. Cathy is due at home to have their fourth baby. Hopefully she’s held on because it’s ready to come any time soon. She’ll be so excited. What a finish,” Payne said.

“Kerrin is such an amazing rider. What a great ride it was.”

McEvoy was able to speak to Cathy and his three boys, Charlie, 7, Jake, 6, and Rhys, 3, moments after the race when Michelle handed him her phone in the mounting yard. McEvoy admitted Payne’s history-making win last year had reignited his passion for the great race.

“I was so happy for Michelle but her win did get the fires burning inside me again,’’ McEvoy said. “You leave the course wanting to be a part of it again. I was blessed to win one Melbourne Cup, let alone two – so I can’t really describe the sensation, it is incredible.’’

McEvoy said with his second Cup success, he now had a better appreciation of the significance of his achievements.

“I was so young when I won on Brew. I didn’t really know what was happening that day,’’ he said. “It is a different euphoria this time.

Michelle Payne hands the phone to Kerrin McEvoy to speak to his wife Cathy after his Cup-winning ride. Photo by Vince Caligiuri/Getty Images

“I can understand more the enormity of winning a Melbourne Cup now. I was pretty ecstatic after the race. I don’t usually carry on like that.

“But the Melbourne Cup has gone to a different level now, as it does every year. This was a very good field with some of the best stayers from around the world – the race is truly international now.’’

Though it’s almost 20 years since he left, McEvoy proudly calls himself a South Australian. His parents still live in Streaky Bay and McEvoy was quick to acknowledge his family and friends from the small coastal town, about 300km northwest of Port Lincoln. The jockey, who celebrated his 36th birthday a week ago, hails from a family with a rich thoroughbred tradition. His father Phillip has been involved in the racing game most of his life and has enjoyed his own share of Melbourne Cup glory as a part-owner of On A Jeune, who finished second to the champion Makybe Diva in 2005. McEvoy’s uncle Tony is one of SA’s leading trainers.

Phillip McEvoy was trackside to cheer on his son but his mother, Tracy, watched the race by herself at their home.

Kerrin McEvoy celebrates his Melbourne Cup win of 2000 on horse Brew.

“This is unbelievable,’’ an emotional Phillip McEvoy said. “It’s a family thing. Paynes last year, McEvoys this year. You wouldn’t believe it.

“I just saw Michelle run the phone out and Cathy is on the phone talking to Kerrin.

“How good was that??

“I think it’s hit me more this time around. You’re up against the best in the world, the whole world is watching and to see your son ride such a great race is bloody unbelievable.’’

Tracy McEvoy, who was trackside for Brew’s 2000 Cup win, decided to watch the race at home in Streaky Bay so she could focus on it and track Kerrin’s progress – then later headed to The Streaky Bay Hotel to join the celebrations.

She said: “This year I decided to not worry to go because I’m going to need to head across to help Cathy with the new baby. I just like to be able to concentrate on where Kerrin is in the race.

“When he was getting close I was jumping up and down by myself. It would have looked a bit funny. I’ll try to give him a ring tonight but it’s near impossible to get through to him.

“I’ve got work tomorrow at eight o’clock, so it’s not going to be that big a night.”

Streaky Bay Hotel manager Penny Hogan said the pub erupted when Almandin burst to the front in the Cup. Many of McEvoy’s relatives, including his sister Renae and her husband Dion Edmunds, were there to cheer Kerrin home.

“It’s been crazy,” she said.

“There’d be four or five hundred people here. There was silence, then cheers, then tears and now celebrations with several champagnes. It’s absolutely fantastic. Everyone in town . . . they always back him.”

McEvoy had a stunning rise to the top of world racing. He spent some time at the SA stables of Russell Cameron but his riding career really took off when he joined Lindsay Park in early 1998 as an 18-year-old.

After hitting headlines with his 2000 Cup win, McEvoy was recruited by the global Godolphin operation and moved to the UK, where he rode with significant success for almost a decade. He returned to Sydney in 2008, still as a stable rider for Godolphin, before breaking ties with them in 2014.

Originally published as Sixteen years after first winning the Melbourne Cup South Australian jockey Kerrin McEvoy has again risen to the summit of Australian horse racing.