3 minute read

Calvin McEvoy says Jamie Kah has a special gift when she is out riding horses.

It was fitting that Jamie Kah should become the first Melbourne jockey rider to top 100 wins in a season aboard a Tony and Calvin McEvoy-trained runner. 

The McEvoy's provided Kah with the milestone win with Deep Speed at Caulfield on Saturday. 

Kah and the McEvoy's were a lethal combination in Adelaide before the jockey moved to Melbourne in early 2019, and while she does not ride for them as much these days, they still have a good strike-rate. 

Calvin McEvoy was in charge of the stable in Adelaide before joining his father in a training partnership and moving to Ballarat earlier this year. 

He had a close working relationship Kah and could see something different in her, but what that is, he cannot definitively say. 

"There is something that you notice as a horse trainer," McEvoy said. 

"Every morning I go out and watch my horses work and I watch our riders on our horses. 

"One thing that always happened with her, a horse that might be a bit hot, or buzzy, she would get on them and get them to relax. 

"I can't explain why and I don't think anyone can. 

"I just think she had the right temperament for them, the right feel and I don't think she would overthink things, she would let it happen." 

McEvoy said one thing he did notice when putting Kah on their horses in a race was how they jumped from barriers and travelled in a race. 

"If a horse sat back three-quarters of the way down the field, you put her on, they would sit a pair closer," McEvoy said. 

"They jumped cleaner from the gates and travelled nicer. 

"We thought we were going good, but maybe she was the reason. 

"She's got a gift."