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2017 South Australian Racing Hall of Fame Inductee - Kerrin McEvoy

Born on the West Coast of South Australia at Streaky Bay, the son of local racing identities Phillip and Tracy and nephew of Tony, Darren & Peter, Kerrin was always destined to become a jockey, learning the ropes riding track work for his grandfather Bill Holland.

He had a short stint with Russell Cameron before moving to Angaston to begin his race riding career under the tutelage of Peter Hayes as well as from Uncle Darren who was the leading SA apprentice at the time.

Kerrin’s 1st ride was aboard Dance Detail at Balaklava on the 2nd of March 1997 and his 1st winner was at Ceduna on Attrice on the 29th of March for Malcolm Hebberman.

By the middle of 2000, Kerrin, now based at Flemington had outridden his apprentice claim, and began the 2000/01 season as a senior jockey. It was the 1st Tuesday of November 2000 that Kerrin’s name really shot to prominence, when he won the Melbourne Cup on Brew for Mike Moroney and in the process became the 2nd youngest jockey at age 20 to win the big one.

After scoring 4 wins at Caulfield on Dubai Racing Club Cup Day and a 3rd in the 2002 Melbourne Cup on Beekeeper drew the attention of the powerful Godolphin Stable and he was offered a 6-week stint in Dubai where he won the UAE 1000 Guineas steering Mezza Soprano to victory.

In 2004 McEvoy became a stable rider for the powerful Godolphin team in England, riding 120 winners, 6 at Group 1 level. His first winner came on May 1 2004 on the Saeed Bin Surror prepared Destination Dubai at Haydock. The following day Kerrin was a narrow runner-up on Sundrop in the English 1000 Guineas behind Attraction and his 1st major win in England came in the 2004 St Leger at Doncaster when saluting on Rule of Law. In 2005 with Frankie Dettori out of action Kerrin stepped up to the plate with a string of winners including Shamardal in the St James Palace Stakes at Ascot and Dubawi in the Prix Jacques Le Marois at Deauville and the Yorkshire Oaks on Punctilious.

In 2008 McEvoy returned to Australia to be Darley’s, Sheik Mohammad’s Australian racing operation retained rider based in Sydney where he amassed more than 20 Group One success including four wins each on Sepoy and Guelph and three on Helmet along with the 2008 Caulfield Cup on All the Good.

In 2014 he announced the end of his association with the Godolphin stable and once again chose to be freelance wasting no time winning the Turnbull Stakes on Lucia Valentina.

Kerrin continued to be a jockey of the highest calibre and this came to the fore last year when he won his 2nd Melbourne Cup aboard the Lloyd Williams owned Almandin, nosing our Heartbreak City ridden by Joao Moreira. This created a unique family double as his sister- in- law Michelle Payne had won the Melbourne Cup the previous year.

He returned to Adelaide for the 2017 Autumn Racing carnival winning his 2nd Group 1 in his home state on Egg Tart in the South Australian Oaks following the win of Kidnapped in the South Australian Derby of 2010.

The racetrack was also where he first set eyes on Cathy, an apprentice Jockey in Melbourne at the time and now his wife of 9 years, and proud parents of 4 children, Charlie, Jake, Rhys and Eva-Mae.

With over 1700 wins in total and 63 group 1 wins to date, it is well within his realm to reach the coveted 100 wins at this level.

Congratulations to Kerrin McEvoy, a worthy inductee into the South Australian Racing Hall of Fame.

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