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By Ray Hickson

It’s hard to believe a better version of Half Yours could turn up at Rosehill on Saturday that at his Sydney debut when you cast your mind back to what he did that day.

But co-trainer Calvin McEvoy says it’s entirely possible that the lightly raced gelding has more up his sleeve going into the TAB Handicap (2000m) on the back of an exceptional runaway win a fortnight ago.

The last to first style wasn’t quite what McEvoy expected but he’s quick to say the result was and he went into that race with scope for improvement.

“The horse was seven weeks between runs, up in trip, blinkers first time,’’ McEvoy said.

“Generally they can be vulnerable at those trips with that scenario but he showed he's a very tough horse.

“We were hoping he wouldn’t have got so far back. Even with the blinkers first time he dropped the bit and went back and then they went such a sedate tempo Dylan (Gibbons) made that move.

“We gave him a gallop on the course proper at Rosehill on Monday and he’s trained on beautifully.”

‘That move’ saw Gibbons make a lightning move from last at the 800m and he circled the field to hit the lead just inside the 600m before running away with a 3-1/2 length margin to spare.

McEvoy, who co-trains with his father Tony, said it’s unlikely that Gibbons will attempt to win Saturday's race in the same manner under the 60kg but he’s confident he can get the job done and earn a trip to the Caloundra Cup on July 5.

“We contemplated using a claim on him but we’re under the impression he’s a big strong horse who can carry the weight,’’ McEvoy said.

“I was hoping he’d draw more towards the inside, I’d love him to sit closer when he gets out to a mile and a half but it isn’t too bad when you’ve got a turn of foot like he’s got.

“I don’t think we’ll be riding him to be in the first couple, he’s the sort of horse that enjoys being left alone and hitting the line strong."

It’s a decent risk to fork out $300,000 for a four-year-old gelding but McEvoy believes Half Yours, $3.60 with TAB on Thursday, is a promising horse and one he expects to continue to improve into the spring.

He was picked up from the Ciaron Maher yard as part of a dispersal of the late Colin McKenna’s horses having seen a hit of something special in his first two wins.

“It is a lot of money for a benchmark 64 winner with very little pedigree but he’d rated well in those couple of runs for Ciaron Maher and they’d been patient with the horse,’’ he said.

“They had handled him well and gave him the time he needed and we were lucky to be able to purchase him coming into the perfect time for him.

“I know they always had a decent opinion of him. I rang (Maher’s former co-trainer) David Eustace up and he knew the horse well.

Half Yours wins at Rosehill on May 31

“When he went to Cranbourne and won so impressively he returned a big figure on a soft track.

“So we knew we were buying a horse that was better on rain affected ground.

"In his first run for us he stormed home in the quickest sectionals on a good 3 but he’s so much better on a soft track and that’s why we’re up in Sydney to chase that.”

All the fields, form and replays for Saturday’s Rosehill meeting