MV On Track 2018

ON TRACK MAGAZINE 19 “I think it was a combination of things. In October in Melbourne you could always get a bit of give in the ground. He clearly loved The Valley and he could withstand the pressure of a Cox Plate.” It is the latter, suggests McEvoy, that holds the key to Fields of Omagh’s success. “That pressure in that particular race is what brings a lot of horses undone. Many cracked, but he used to thrive on it. “They get going hard earlier than in any other race, more like a thousand metres from home. You ask any of the jockeys, it starts to build from the 1200, and the thousand metre point in a Cox Plate feels like the same pressure as the 600 in any other big race. He had the class, guts and determination to see it through.” By the time Fields of Omagh won his second Cox Plate, McEvoy was back as an assistant to Hayes and had helped nurse the veteran through injury. “He came back from two suspensory ligament tears. He was a tremendous patient; a tremendous healer and he came back and won his two Cox Plates after tearing two suspensories. He was an incredible warrior. “Steven King rode him for me the first time and did it brilliantly. We had a plan and the plan really came together well. And the second time he won he came from last when Craig Williams rode him and circled the field.” Is he under-rated then? “I think he definitely was, he really did go under the radar, he was always an underdog, but what a fighter and what a horse to be able to come back year after year at the highest level.” In recent seasons the Cox Plate has of course been dominated by the mighty mare Winx, but McEvoy looks back to last year’s event, when Chris Waller’s superstar only just saw off the challenge of Humidor, and wonders what might have been. He saddled up the hugely promising three-year- old Royal Symphony, who had run an unlucky fourth in the Caulfield Guineas and was given some chance of upsetting the Winx applecart given his light weight and undoubted talent. But the youngster suffered interference during the race, with McEvoy subsequently being particularly critical of the ride of Damien Oliver aboard rival Happy Clapper. Royal Symphony eventually finished fourth that day and Oliver copped a 20-meeting suspension. Royal Symphony then suffered a ligament injury as he was being prepared for an autumn campaign and has not run since. “Sadly, he got out-toughed in the race... it was very unfortunate that he didn’t get a clear passage.