Half Yours has won the 165th running of the Melbourne Cup from Goodie Two Shoes, with Middle Earth third in the $10 million race at Flemington.
Superstar jockey Jamie Melham has created history as the first female jockey to complete the Caulfield-Melbourne Cups double by riding Half Yours to victory in the race that stops a nation.
A decade after Michelle Payne became the first female jockey to win the Cup, close friend Melham matched the feat in stunning fashion on Half Yours for Ballarat-based father-son training duo Tony and Calvin McEvoy.
After easing to start at $9, the five-year-old gelding produced an explosive finish in the Flemington straight to charge to victory by 2.75 lengths, with two-time winner Joseph O’Brien’s Irish mare Goodie Two Shoes second at $41.
Ciaron Maher’s Middle Earth took third a further 1.5 lengths away at $26, with Chris Waller’s mare River Of Stars fourth at $19. French raider Presage Nocturne failed to flatter in 19th place after being heavily backed into $5.50 favouritism.
Jamie Melham came the first female jockey to complete the Cups double with a masterful ride. Photo: AAP Image/Joel Carrett
Melham steered through several gaps, including one to most past husband Ben Melham on Smokin’ Romans, to secure the win.
“I wanted to ride him as quiet as I could and at the 400 … I had to let him go,” Melham said.
“There was a tight gap and I said, ‘Move over Ben, I’m coming through’.
“The next gap was extremely tight and I had no say. My horse just took me through it.
“Then he had to produce the finish and the team have just got him the fittest I’ve ever seen this horse.”
A tearful Melham dedicated her win to her grandfather, who died soon after her Caulfield Cup win. Photo: AAP Image/Joel Carrett
Half Yours was the only Australian-bred horse in this year’s capacity Cup field of 24, with seven nations represented.
The son of bargain-priced sire St Jean became the 13th horse in history to complete the Caulfield-Melbourne Cup double.
Melham paid tribute to Tony and Calvin McEvoy, as well as her late grandfather, who passed away after witnessing the Half Yours’ Caulfield Cup win last month.
Payne, who rode 100-1 shot Prince Of Penzance to a famous victory in 2015, featured in the pre-race ceremony and was reduced to tears after Melham’s victory.
“I’ve got tears in my eyes,” Payne said on Nine.
“It’s just the most incredible feeling and for Jamie, who deserves it, it just couldn’t be better.”
Rain threatened to dampen spirits on Tuesday, but the Cup was run on a track that had been upgraded to a soft 5 rating.
Earlier, red-hot jockey Mark Zahra continued his outstanding Cup carnival form with two wins and a place in Tuesday’s first four races.
The 43-year-old scored aboard Party Crasher ($4.80) in the Grand Handicap and Different Gravy ($4.80) in the Tab Trophy.
It took Zahra’s tally to six wins and three places in 10 rides across the carnival, after he claimed the Group 1 Victoria Derby (Observer) and Coolmore Stud Stakes (Tentyris) among his four consecutive wins on Saturday.
Fellow star rider James McDonald, who rode Pallaton to beat Zahra’s Street Artist in race four on Cup Day, pledged all his prizemoney percentage from the meeting to the Tom Prebble fundraiser.
Prebble, the son of former champion jockey Brett Prebble, is in a wheelchair and on Saturday revealed a diagnosis of paraplegia after his fall at Warrnambool in September.
Source: AAP
