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 Melbourne 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 $A9, the five-year-old gelding produced an explosive finish in the Flemington straight to charge to victory in the 3200m staying test by 2.75 lengths, with two-time winner Joseph O'Brien's Irish mare Goodie Two Shoes second at $A41.
Ciaron Maher's Middle Earth took third a further 1.5 lengths away at $A26, with Chris Waller's mare River Of Stars fourth at $A19. French raider Presage Nocturne failed to flatter in 19th place after being heavily backed into $A5.50 favouritism.
"It's been long enough, 10 years. I had to do it sooner or later," Melham said of joining Payne as a Melbourne Cup winner.
"All week I've been thinking about it, been excited, but no feeling can describe what I felt just then - what I'm still feeling."
Melham steered through several gaps, including one to move past husband Ben Melham on Smokin' Romans, to secure the win.
"It's all the horse. What an absolute tough, legend of a horse," Melham said.
"We ran through the race about 10 or 20 times last night about where I want to be in the race. That was exactly where I wanted to be.
"I wanted the first wave to go and it did, and we cut the corner and could not script it any better.
"You need the horse underneath you to do that for you and the gaps were small, but the horse didn't for a second hesitate.
"That's the sort of horse you need in these races."
Melham paid tribute to Tony and Calvin McEvoy, as well as her late grandfather, who passed away after witnessing Half Yours' Caulfield Cup win last month.
She also spared a thought for the late Colin McKenna, a close friend and mentor, who bred Half Yours and raced the gelding until he died last year after a battle with illness.
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 Cups double in the former's 149-year history.
Melham's relationship with the McEvoys dates back more than 15 years to when she was an up-and-coming jockey in Adelaide, then known as Jamie Kah.
"I wouldn't want to do this for anybody else in this industry," Melham said, looking at the McEvoys.
"That was just the best, to do it for you two. You're now Melbourne Cup-winning trainers."
The McEvoys played a role in Melham's move to Victoria, where she became the first jockey - male or female - to ride 100 winners in a Melbourne metropolitan season.
She was suspended by Racing Victoria for five months in 2021 for breaching COVID-19 regulations, and spent several days in an induced coma after a horror fall at Flemington in 2023.
The 29-year-old, who married fellow jockey Ben Melham in January this year, recovered from her fall and fought back to reclaim her place at the top of the game.
Her first Cup triumph came after finishing third aboard Prince Of Arran (2020) and Okita Soushi (2024) in previous editions.
Payne, who rode 100-1 shot Prince Of Penzance to a famous Cup triumph in 2015, featured in the pre-race ceremony and was reduced to tears after Melham's greatest victory to date.
Half Yours is based at Ballarat, where Payne and Prince Of Penzance were also based for their triumph.
"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.
"The times are changing. She has been a revelation for racing.
"We see so many young girls coming into our industry and to think that she's taken home the Caulfield-Melbourne Cup double is just so fitting because she is such an athlete.
"She is such an unbelievable rider and we saw that today."
