Co-trainer Calvin McEvoy has hailed Half Yours' stunning Melbourne Cup triumph as a win for Australian racing and breeding, after the only locally-bred horse stood up on the international stage.
Against the usual tide of imported or visiting European stayers - plus an American and a Japanese raider - Half Yours lifted for patriotic punters in Flemington's $10 million feature on Tuesday.
The one-time favourite was displaced at the top of the market by Irish raider Al Riffa after a flood of money on Monday, and after more concerted betting pushes on raceday started a $9 second-favourite behind Presage Nocturne.
The French fancy was heavily backed into $5.50 favouritism but failed to flatter in 19th in Australia's greatest race.
"It shows that we can do it," McEvoy said.
"It's very hard to beat the internationals, of course. They've got the depth of pedigree. They're the elite-bred horses.
"It's still our race, but it's become a lot harder to win with an Australian-bred horse.
"There's been a few recently but it gives me great satisfaction."
Despite the heavy foreign influence of recent years, three Australian-bred horses have won the Cup in its past seven editions.
Vow And Declare scored as an $11 shot in 2019, and Knight's Choice brought a bolter's victory last year at $91.
Jamie Melham gave Half Yours another perfect ride to win the 3200m staying test. She became the first female jockey to complete the Caulfield-Melbourne Cups double - coincidentally, without riding a winner in between.
Two-time winner Joseph O'Brien's Irish mare Goodie Two Shoes was 2.75 lengths away in second place at $41, with UK import Middle Earth ($26) third and Irish-bred mare River Of Stars ($19) fourth.
Half Yours, the son of Victorian-based bargain-priced sire St Jean, was bred by the late Colin McKenna, who died after a short battle with illness last year.
The gelding was bought for $305,000 in an online sale last November, less than three weeks after last year's Melbourne Cup.
Father-son training duo Tony and Calvin McEvoy outbid Half Yours' previous trainer Ciaron Maher, but had originally hoped to secure their target for as little as $100,000.
"We got basically a young four-year-old, I suppose, that had no miles on the clock, plenty of raw ability and something special to work with," Calvin McEvoy said.
"One hundred per cent that would've been the last bid. I mean, there were about 10 last bids.
"We actually had a group of people together that up to about $250,000 was their limit.
"Any smart people probably would've stopped ... and I really don't think we would've gone another bid. Thank goodness (we did)."
It now seems like a bargain, with Half Yours totalling more than $9.25 million in prizemoney, and with eyes on more Group 1 success.
"He's a weight-for-age horse of the future," Tony McEvoy said.
"His run in the Turnbull (Stakes) next to the Cox Plate winner Via Sistina was really something special.
"He's a big-track horse and the Cox Plate's going to be run at Flemington next year.
"I think we'll look at the weight-for-age races for him in the future and see where he sits."
First, a spell looms for a horse that effectively hasn't been rested since his first race for the McEvoys in March.
"He's been up a long time," Calvin McEvoy said.
"I can't think of another horse that would allow us to do what he has and it just shows why he's an elite racehorse.
"We were very confident the way he pulled up out of the Caulfield Cup that he hadn't gone backwards at all - he might've improved."
