Kerrin McEvoy chasing legends Harry White and Bobbie Lewis as a four-time winner of the Melbourne Cup

Only two jockeys in the 163-year history have won the Melbourne Cup four times. Kerrin McEvoy will be out to join them on Tuesday.

Kerrin McEvoy was only a teenager when he first met the late, great Harry White.

“I was introduced to Harry when I was very young,’’ McEvoy said,

“He was obviously a champion jockey, his record is amazing. I didn’t know Harry well but I did know his son, Brent, when we were apprentices.

“Brent was a jockey in his own right for a few years. I used to ride out with him when he was with the Hayes and Hawkes stables at Flemington.’’

Harry White passed away two years ago aged 79 but his name is forever etched in Melbourne Cup folklore.

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Since the great race was first run in 1861, White is one of only two jockeys to win the race four times.

White won the Melbourne Cup on Think Big (1974-75), Arwon (1978) and Hyperno (1979).

The only other jockey to win four Melbourne Cups is Bobbie Lewis with The Victory (1902), Patrobas (1915), Artilleryman (1919) and Trivalve (1927).

Lewis also rode the legendary Phar Lap in the 1929 Melbourne Cup when the emerging champion three-year-old started an even money favourite but fought hard against his rider for most of the two miles and could finish only third to Nightmarch.

This brings us back to McEvoy. He has the opportunity at Flemington on Tuesday afternoon to join those two former champion jockeys as a four-time Melbourne Cup winner.

McEvoy, 44, has won Melbourne Cups on Brew (2000), Almandin (2016) and Cross Counter (2018), and is riding Irish stayer Absurde in the race that stops a nation.

Absurde, prepared by Irish training genius Willie Mullins, is lining up in his second Melbourne Cup after finishing seventh to Without A Fight last year.

Kerrin McEvoy kisses the 2018 Melbourne Cup after winning with Cross Counter . Picture: Michael Klein

McEvoy has his first race ride on Absurde in the Cup but he did get the opportunity to put the stayer through his paces at the Werribee training and quarantine facility last week.

“Absurde did some good work,’’ McEvoy said.

“He seems to have travelled over well and is nice and bright. I think the experience of last year is helping him because he’s settled in quickly.

“I know Willie and his team that travelled over with the horse are very happy with him.’’

McEvoy revealed he was asked to ride Absurde in the Cup last year but “it didn’t work out”.

“Then Willie’s stable got back in touch with me after Absurde won at Chester in August to see if I was interested in riding the horse in the Cup,’’ McEvoy said.

“He’s a good stayer and I was happy to take the ride.’’

McEvoy rode with great success in Europe for the Godolphin stable between 2003-2008 but can’t remember if he ever got an opportunity to ride for Mullins.

“But I did take notice of what Willie has been able to do in jumps and flat racing,’’ McEvoy said.

“He is highly regarded as one of the greatest trainers over there and it’s fantastic to have him in Melbourne again.’’

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Mullins has an extraordinary record, training more than 5000 winners including nearly 400 at Group 1 level (including jumps wins) – but the Melbourne Cup has eluded him so far.

The champion trainer has seven runners in the Cup, coming closest with Max Dynamite’s luckless second to Prince Of Penzance in 2015.

Mullins has sent Absurde and Vauban back to the Melbourne Cup after they ran seventh and 14th respectively behind Without A Fight.

Vauban was the beaten favourite last year and he is again at the top of Cup betting at $6 with Absurde also in the market at $9.

“As you know, you just don’t arrive and pick up the prize,’’ Mullins said after the barrier draw which had Absurde in seven and Vauban starting from barrier 11.

“Last year, a lot of people had us marked down for that, but I think our horses’ preparations this year have been good.

“Vauban’s form has been very good all season and he brings great depth of form into the race.

“Absurde has done nothing wrong and I think he’s a horse that’s maturing all the time in his mind.

“Vauban’s form stands out but I don’t know how good the other horse is – he just keeps improving.’’

Kerrin McEvoy winning his first Melbourne Cup aboard Brew in 2000.

Absurde, who won England’s prestigious Ebor Handicap last year before his seventh in the Melbourne Cup, has mixed flat and jumps racing this year.

Mullins took Absurde to the famous Cheltenham jumps festival in March where the gelding won a hurdle over 3419m.

Absurde was then switched back to flat racing for his next start in the Irish St Leger Trial in August where the gelding ran only fourth of five but was obviously in need of the run.

He then ran in the Listed Chester Stakes two weeks later and impressed, beating a classy field of stayers by a comfortable margin.

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McEvoy agreed there was a time when a stayer who had jumps form would be dismissed as a Melbourne Cup chance but that perception changed with when Ireland’s Vintage Crop ushered in the internationalisation of Australia’s great race with his historic win in 1993.

“The great Vintage Crop had hurdle form and so did Media Puzzle (2002),’’ McEvoy said.

“It is par for the course over there and I wouldn’t be worried about the fact Absurde has been mixing jumps and flat racing.

“It takes a quality horse to win a jumps race at the Cheltenham Festival so I wouldn’t be shying away from Absurde due to the face he has had some jumps runs.’’

McEvoy has discussed race tactics with Mullins with both men learning from the lessons of Absurde’s unplaced Cup run last year.

“Absurde sat close to a fast speed last year, hit the front early in the straight and just tired a bit near the finish,’’ McEvoy said.

“Willie said to keep that in mind and we might be able to ride him a tiny bit different to last year.

“I think my horse showed he has a turn of foot, he showed that in the Cup last time, and he can stay the distance well.’’

Kerrin McEvoy returns to scale after winning on Almandin in 2016. Picture: AFP

Absurde carried 53kg in the Cup last year and returns a more seasoned stayer with a half kilo less to carry on Tuesday.

As for McEvoy, he has a riding record unsurpassed in 3200m races – he has won 17 of them including three Melbourne Cups and two Sydney Cups.

“I’m not sure what the reason for that is but I do enjoy riding in the 3200m races,’’ McEvoy said.

“It takes a different approach when riding in these two-mile races, and fortunately I have had a bit of an affinity with the race distance over the years.’’

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McEvoy, who has ridden 84 Group winners during his career and is a certainty for Hall of Fame honours in the near future, doesn’t need reminding he is riding for Melbourne Cup history on Tuesday.

“This looks to be an open Melbourne Cup this year, it doesn’t have that real standout favourite,’’ McEvoy said.

“I am pleased with my horse and pleased that Willie has given the horse another good year to prepare and that bodes well for his chances.

“If I could win it again – to be up there with Harry White and Bobbie Lewis – would be something I would never have dreamed of achieving when I started riding.

“You just hope to ride in a Melbourne Cup one day, to win one is an amazing achievement. If I could win it four times, it would be a fantastic.’’

Kerrin McEvoy with two of this three Melbourne Cup winners, Brew (left) and Almandin at Living Legends on Sunday. Picture: Michael Klein

MELBOURNE CUP – THE LEADING JOCKEYS

BOBBIE LEWIS

1902 THE VICTORY

Bobbie Lewis left school at the age of 10 and never learned to read or write. But he is regarded as one of the greatest jockeys in Australian racing history and won his first Melbourne Cup on the aptly-named The Victory in 1902. Trained by Richard Bradfield, The Victory had been under an injury cloud in the days leading up to the Melbourne Cup but an inspired Lewis ride got the stayer home to a narrow win.

1915 PATROBAS

Patrobas gave Lewis his second Melbourne Cup win and created history on two fronts. He was the first Cup winner owned by a woman, Mrs Edith Widdis, a wealthy Gippsland dairy farmer and landowner. Patrobas had an outstanding spring carnival and remains the only horse to win the Caulfield Guineas-Victoria Derby-Melbourne Cup treble.

1919 ARTILLERYMAN

Artilleryman was a magnificent winner of the 1919 Melbourne Cup, emulating his sire Comedy King’s win in the race nine years earlier. Lewis partnered Artilleryman to a stunning six lengths Cup win with his owners the first to be presented with the now iconic three-handled “Loving Cup” trophy. Tragically, Artilleryman died of cancer just a few months later.

1927 TRIVALVE

Lewis was 49 when he won his fourth Melbourne Cup on Trivalve. The champion colt was almost unbeatable that spring winning the AJC and Victoria Derbies before his Cup triumph. There was a tragic postscript to Trivalve’s Cup win – the horse lost all form the following year, was retired to stud where he was an abject failure, then sold for just 20 pounds to a remote North Territory stock station where he died of a snake bite.

HARRY WHITE

1974 THINK BIG

Think Big was not one of trainer Bart Cummings’ best Melbourne Cup winners but he was an outstanding Flemington two-miler. Stablemate Leilani had won the Turnbull Stakes, Caulfield Cup and Mackinnon Stakes that spring and was favourite to win the famous Flemington two-miler. Leilani, under Peter Cook, hit the front inside the 200m and was being hailed the winner until Harry White timed the lightly-weighted Think Big’s finishing run to perfection to win by a length.

1975 THINK BIG

Another Cummings Cup quinella and White’s second Cup win when Think Big went back-to-back, defeating stablemate Holiday Waggon. Think Big had not won a race between Cups and was burdened with 58.5kg on a wet track which the stayer disliked and he drifted to 33/1 in betting. White produced a masterful ride, taking the shortest route home on the fence and Think Big joined an elite group of stayers to win two Melbourne Cups.

1978 ARWON

Arwon was destined to win a Melbourne Cup. His name is Nowra spelt backwards, the home of the Cup’s first champion, Archer (1861-62). George Hanlon, who trained three Melbourne Cup winners, prepared Arwon to give White his third win in the great race, defeating Dandaleith narrowly,

1979 HYPERNO

White won his fourth Melbourne Cup in six years when the Bart Cummings-trained Hyperno edged out Salamander in a thrilling finish. Roy Higgins was Hyperno’s regular rider but he chose to partner Salamander only to lose by a half head. Hyperno was a deserving Cup hero and won Horse of the Year that season but sadly the race will be remembered for the tragic demise of favourite Dulcify on the turn with a broken pelvis.

Originally published as Kerrin McEvoy chasing legends Harry White and Bobbie Lewis as a four-time winner of the Melbourne Cup