Veight Makes History in 2024 George Ryder Stakes Upset

[Wandering Eyes]

Veight, the Tony & Calvin McEvoy-trained Grunt colt, etched his name into history by becoming the first three-year-old since Pierro (2013) to win the prestigious George Ryder Stakes (1500m).

2024 George Ryder Stakes winner Veight was excellent defeating his older rivals over 1500m at Rosehill Gardens. Photo: Steve Hart.

This victory marked Veight’s first Group 1 triumph, surpassing his second-place finish in the Australian Guineas.

A strategic move by the McEvoy stable to shorten his distance proved successful.

Jockey Damian Lane delivered a masterful ride, positioning Veight comfortably before launching a final push in the straight.

“What a star,” co-trainer Tony McEvoy expressed his joy after the win. He praised Veight’s racing style and Lane’s skilful handling.

The George Ryder result reinforces the strong form showcased in the Australian Guineas, which also saw Chris Waller’s Rosehill Guineas winner, Riff Rocket, compete.

Lane kept Veight strategically positioned in fourth throughout the race, following the leader Cepheus. Joe Pride’s The Everest hero, Think About It, made a strong move in the straight, but Lane and Veight had the final say.

Veight surged past Think About It with 100m remaining, displaying grit to hold off the fast-finishing Lady Laguna, trained by Annabel Neasham, who ran second on the back of her Group 1 Canterbury Stakes victory.

Completing the podium was Waller’s three-time Group 1 winning three-year-old Militarize, who might have preferred the longer distance of the Rosehill Guineas after scratching out of that in favour of the George Ryder.

This victory marks a significant achievement for the McEvoy stable.

Tony & Calvin McEvoy now have four Group 1 wins together, while Tony adds this victory to his personal collection of 15.

Following the race, McEvoy confirmed plans to give Veight a well-deserved break before targeting the lucrative $10 million Golden Eagle race (1500m) in November.

2024 George Ryder Stakes Results

	Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Penalty	Starting Price
	1	17	VEIGHT	Tony & Calvin McEvoy	Damian Lane		8	56kg		$7
	2	15	LADY LAGUNA	Annabel Neasham	Tyler Schiller	0.11L	12	57kg		$8.50
	3	16	MILITARIZE (NZ)	Chris Waller	James McDonald	1.05L	7	56kg		$5
	4	5	GOLDEN MILE	James Cummings	Tommy Berry	1.94L	5	59kg		$51
	5	1	THINK ABOUT IT	Joseph Pride	Sam Clipperton	2.11L	16	59kg		$4.80F
	6	18	ENCAP	Gary Portelli	Blake Shinn	2.83L	2	56kg		$9
	7	3	PERICLES	James Cummings	Hugh Bowman	3.52L	14	59kg		$13
	8	19	TIZ INVINCIBLE	Ciaron Maher	Zac Lloyd (a)	4.32L	6	54kg		$41
	9	12	AMENABLE	Mick Price & Michael Kent (Jnr)	Mark Zahra	4.63L	4	59kg		$11
	10	8	BANDERSNATCH	Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes	Jordan Childs	5.49L	11	59kg		$151
	11	4	KOVALICA (NZ)	Chris Waller	Nash Rawiller	5.63L	18	59kg		$17
	12	2	CEPHEUS (GB)	Matthew Dunn	Adam Hyeronimus	5.74L	13	59kg		$101
	13	6	NAVAJO PEAK	David Payne	Kerrin McEvoy	6.11L	10	59kg		$101
	14	11	NEW ENERGY (IRE)	Ciaron Maher	Jason Collett	6.25L	15	59kg		$16
	15	9	LOCH EAGLE	Kris Lees	Dylan Gibbons (a)	6.27L	9	59kg		$101
	16	7	UNSPOKEN (IRE)	Peter & Paul Snowden	Tom Sherry	6.41L	1	59kg		$81
	17	14	COSMIC VEGA (IRE)	Ciaron Maher	Ms Jamie Kah	7.23L	17	59kg		$61
	18	10	MIGHTY ULYSSES (GB)	Annabel Neasham	Tom Marquand	9.95L	3	59kg		$61
		13	WILLIAMSBURG	Gerald Ryan & Sterling Alexiou	Joshua Parr		0

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

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