Champion jockey Kerrin McEvoy has been booked to ride boom three-year-old The Ruffian in the $175,000 Carlton Mid Darwin Cup (2000m) on August 1.
The Sheila Arnold-trained gelding is aiming for the Darwin Turf Club's prestigious Triple Crown purse of $100,000 which is awarded to the connections of the three-year-old who can win the Darwin Guineas, NT Derby and Darwin Cup during the Cup Carnival.
Only Brinney (1989) and Ventilago (1996) have achieved the feat.
Following emphatic wins in the Guineas (1600m) and Derby (2000m), The Ruffian is a $3.80 second favourite in the Top End's biggest race behind the Neil Dyer-trained Hawks Bay ($3.60), the runner-up in the previous two Cups.
"I've been waiting since 1986 to win the Triple Crown," part-owner Bill Mumford said from Brisbane last night.
"Before the Derby, we offered the Cup ride to Kerrin."
McEvoy, a winner of the Melbourne Cup (Brew in 2000), Golden Slipper Stakes (Sepoy in 2011) and Caulfield Cup (All The Good in 2008), has ridden at the carnival in the past, but certain conditions applied on this occasion.
"Kerrin had to get permission from his boss," Mumford said.
McEvoy is employed by the Dubai-based Godolphin enterprise, and as the No. 1 rider for the Darley stable in Australia he had to get the green light from Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
The fact that The Ruffian is also the son of former champion galloper Lonhro, who now stands at the Darley Stud in the NSW Hunter Valley, was the only other reason McEvoy was allowed to accept the Darwin Cup ride.
The 30-year-old McEvoy, from Streaky Bay in South Australia, started riding for the Godolphin stable in Dubai from 2002 before returning to Australia in 2008.
During the week, a punter had $20,000 on The Ruffian to win the Cup at $4 with betting agency Sportingbet.
"Comparing The Ruffian's time in the Guineas (1.36.27) to the times they ran in the Chief Minister's Cup (Palmyra Boy - 1.35.17) and Bridge Toyota Cup (General Mazeratti - 1.36.27), our horse will have to improve to have any chance in the Cup," Mumford said. "The fact that he drops from 57kg, which he carried in the Derby, to 53.5kg for the Cup certainly helps.
"However, his next race will be against older horses, but Sheila tells me he's fine."
Story courtesy of David White, NT News
