THE Joseph O’Brien-trained Al Riffa remains favourite for the Melbourne Cup and there is also an Irish connection to the second favourite, Half Yours.

Winner of the Caulfield Cup last weekend (see page 31), Half Yours is trained by Tony and Calvin McEvoy. Their assistant trainer is Fionnan (Finn) McCarthy from Fedamore in Co Limerick and he is in charge of the team’s Melbourne Carnival string.

Before the Caulfied Cup, Calvin McEvoy told the press: “When I get in every morning I go straight to Half Yours’ box and Finn McCarthy, our assistant trainer at Flemington, tells me to leave him alone.”

Finn has been in Australia for seven years and last year he won the Leadership Award at the Godolphin Australia Stud and Stable Staff Awards. Just before Finn won that prize, Tony McEvoy said of Finn: “I’ve got the utmost trust in him and confidence in him. He was the one I chose when I was planning Calvin to be the future of my business, I wanted someone to be a second-in-command to him, pretty much like Colin Hayes chose me to be the second-in-command to David (Hayes). He’s a ripper young fellow.”

The McCarthy family in Fedamore are keeping everything crossed that Half Yours passes the stringent veterinary checks ahead of the Melbourne Cup. There is talk of an all-night party on November 4th/5th while we hear they are also keeping an eye on flights to Australia.

Finn is not the only Irish person to hold a senior position in the McEvoy camp. Orlaith Nangle, a former HRI intern and Godolphin Flying Start graduate from Dublin, is their head of bloodstock. And Stephen Byrne from Allenwood in Co Kildare is the stable farrier.