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Six-year-old Despatch will race in the McEwen Stakes at The Valley on Saturday.

Having failed to figure among the placings since winning the Group 1 Goodwood at Morphettville almost 18 months ago, Team Mcevoy has gone back to basics in a bid to revive the career of Despatch. 

The now six-year-old will race without any gear when he returns to racing in the $200,000 Group 2 McEwen Stakes (1000m) at The Valley on Saturday. 

Despatch won the 2019 Goodwood and Tony McEvoy, who trains the gelding in partnership with his son Calvin, said the stable had tried to get the gelding to run a longer trip last spring. 

The plan backfired with a midfield finish in Group 1 Memsie Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield and then a near last performance in the Group 1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes over the same course and distance last September. 

The McEvoy's learned from those flops and brought Despatch back in distance, but again the gelding performed poorly in the Group 2 Schillaci Stakes (1100m) at Caulfield in October. 

A spell ensured and Despatch returned for an autumn campaign, but failed to feature in two Group 1 sprints at Flemington, the Lightning Stakes and Newmarket Handicap. 

Again it was off to the paddock before a build-up to a spring campaign commenced. 

Despatch will not race with the visor he raced in last preparation while other gear the sprinter has previously raced in, blinkers, tongue tie and barrier blanket, have also been removed at various times. 

McEvoy said Despatch does not seem to have lost any zest in his work and it will be good to see him back at the races on Saturday. 

"His trials have been good, his work has been solid," McEvoy said. 

"After the Goodwood we played around with him trying to get him to run 1400 metres, but it didn't work and when you go up in trip and bring them back, it can muck them up, so we turned him out and started afresh. 

"He's seems happy and interested in his work, so if he can bring it to the races he'll run well. 

"He's a big lump of a horse and I think he might need the race to tighten him up." 

Despatch is opposed to a good field of sprinters on Saturday and is one of the outsiders at $26 with TAB Fixed Odds in the nine-horse field. 

Hanseatic, a winner of his first three starts and a second to Tagaloa in the Group 1 Blue Diamond Stakes in a five-start two-year-old career, returns for his three-year-old season and heads the McEwen market at $3.10 from Brooklyn Hustle ($3.90) with Group 1 Sangster Stakes winner Bella Vella next in betting at $5.