History beckons for Tiger Moth on sizzling Melbourne Cup day

Kerrin McEvoy is seeking to become just the third jockey to win four Melbourne Cup winners on Irish-trained galloper and race favourite Tiger Moth.

Tiger Moth, left, and Anthony Van Dyck ridden by Hugh Bowman before galloping during trackwork at Werribee Racecourse. Picture: Getty Images

Kerrin McEvoy is approaching a historic Melbourne Cup without a set plan on race favourite Tiger Moth as he seeks to equal the record as the race’s most successful jockey.

The three-time Melbourne Cup winning jockey, who has ridden Brew, Almandin and Cross Counter to successes, will assess the early pace before deciding where to place his Irish hopeful.

The 40-year-old is seeking to give champion Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien, who will also start top-weight Anthony Van Dyck, his first Melbourne Cup winner with the lightly-raced stayer.

McEvoy, who steered Brew to success in 2000 from the same barrier of 23 that Tiger Moth will jump from, admits he would have preferred not to have drawn so widely on what is shaping as a warm Melbourne Cup day.

The weather bureau is predicting a temperature of 29C, which would make it the warmest Melbourne Cup since German galloper Protectionist won in 2014.

“It wouldn’t have been my first pick, but who knows what a good barrier is and a bad barrier is. In a Melbourne Cup, anything can happen,” McEvoy said.

“I have done it before from some wide gates, so no doubt we need an ounce of luck, but you need an ounce of luck in any race you ride in.”

Leviathan owner Lloyd Williams, for whom McEvoy rode Almandin to victory in 2016, said he would love to own Tiger Moth and had tried to buy the four-year-old after it placed in the Irish Derby in June.

Tiger Moth has had just four runs for two wins and two placings and is attempting to become the least experienced Melbourne Cup winner since Martini Henri in 1883.

But recent winners Cross Counter and Rekindling, along with placegetters Mahler and Il Paradiso, had similar profiles and less than 10 starts when running in the Melbourne Cup.

Tiger Moth eased in betting markets after the barrier draw on Saturday but again holds favouritism at $7.50 with stablemate Anthony Van Dyck between $8.50 and $9 on Monday afternoon. Australia’s leading hope Surprise Baby was on the second line of betting at $8 by Monday evening.

But Williams believes the fact the Melbourne Cup will be run without a crowd for the first time given COVID-19 restrictions will help Tiger Moth, a three-year-old by Northern Hemisphere standards, stay relaxed.

Williams has promised the race will be run at an even, consistent speed given the presence of his three starters, two of which are trained by Joseph O’Brien.

He became the youngest trainer to win the Melbourne Cup when training Rekindling to win in 2017.

Williams, who is seeking to win a seventh Melbourne Cup as an owner, starts Master Of Reality, Twilight Payment and King Of Leogrance this year.

“It is a very competitive Melbourne Cup this year, as it always is, but probably a bit more competitive than normal,” he told Tab Radio on Monday.

“They will be on speed this year. They will be on speed, don’t worry about that. Easily. They are happy to lead.

“We will be right there with our horses. We don’t want to be back in the mess. We will be rolling it along at an even tempo. We can’t have that stop-start type of race.

“The Australians like to get round the corner and pull up at the 2000m, so they can conserve their horses to run two miles.

“We want the opposite of that. We want a nice, strong, even tempo the whole way.”

McEvoy, who is seeking to join Bobby Lewis and Harry White as a four-time Melbourne Cup

winning jockey, said if the speed was strong early, he would be tempted to drift back and find a position.

But he is confident Tiger Moth has the tactical speed to be used early if necessary.

“I am just going to go out there with a real open mind as to how my horse might react to the situation,” he said.

“He has shown a bit of speed over the 2400m in his races in Ireland and it is one of those races where I have to go with a bit of an open book and see how the race unfolds.

“If there is plenty of speed, I might be a little further back, but if there is no speed, I might be in the first four or five or six. It is just important to assess the race as it is unfolding.

“I am just going to have to be at my best and hopefully I can get him into a nice rhythm and he can finish with that nice light weight on his back.”