When Tony and Calvin McEvoy purchased So Unusual (NZ) (Unusual Suspect) from New Zealand late last year, the trainers told their ownership group that he was a nice horse and could be a Ballarat Cup horse.
If all goes to plan on Saturday, their sights will be aimed considerably higher as So Unusual could book his place in Australia’s most famous race by winning the A$500,000 Roy Higgins (2600m) at Flemington, which carries a golden ticket into the Melbourne Cup.
So Unusual has proven to be the staying find of the summer, having won his past four starts graduating from a Class 1 to his Open Handicap win at Flemington last start.
“It’s the stuff of dreams to get into the Melbourne Cup. It would also make a big difference to the way we would train him knowing he’s already in the Melbourne Cup,” Calvin McEvoy said.
“It would take the pressure off. You see people trying to get horses into a Melbourne Cup and they are running their horses late and they run more times than you want. If you get the golden ticket, you can really sit down and plan for the horse to peak on the day knowing he’s in the field.”
McEvoy said they had continued to maintain So Unusual’s fitness levels which he thought was perfect.
“He’s in really good order,” he said. “After that last win, we gave him a little bit of dressage work which is what we’ve been doing with him.”
