Spring pay-day for Hey Doc

Hey Doc has earned a shot at the spring carnival with a dominant win in the Quest Moonee Valley Hcp (1514m).

Backed from $7 into a $5 favourite on Saturday, Hey Doc sat wide before powering home for Yarram based part-owner and breeder Adrian Hall.

Winning trainer Tony McEvoy said Hey Doc is still in the Group 1 Golden Rose in Sydney but it is unlikely he will head north.  “I was going to take him up there last week but it was too wet,” McEvoy said.  “It was three weeks between runs and he was stepping up in trip so he did a great job to win so well.

“He was probably just off the best of his age last season and he put them away pretty quick today.  He accelerated instantly and has really come together this season since being gelded.”

Hall is a cabinet-maker by trade and he’s crossing fingers and toes in the lead-up to the spring carnival.  He bred Hey Doc at his 100-acre hobby farm in Gippsland and sold him for $85,000 through Rosemont Stud at the 2015 Inglis Premier II Yearling Sale.

“He was such a good type as a yearling and probably should have made the main part of the sale,” Hall said.  “Tony McEvoy looks at every horse at these sales and obviously was attracted by the type. When Tony bought him, I was able to keep a share.

“Hopefully, we’re in for a bit of fun this spring.  Breeding and racing horses can bring tough times so it is nice to have the success so far with Hey Doc.”

Hey Doc has now won $173,400 in prizemoney which includes more than $55,000 in VOBIS bonuses.  It is expected the son of Duporth will now head along a path to the Caulfield Guineas.

Hall is a son of former Gippsland trainer Brian Hall and maintains a small band of broodmares that will visit sires like Three Bridges’ Unencumbered and Chatswood’s Reward for Effort this year.

Hey Doc’s dam Heyington Honey (General Nediym) died earlier this year.  Hall maintains ownership of her only other foal Heather Honey (Congrats) who is being trained at Ballarat by Simon Morrish.