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Gilbert Gardiner - Racenet November 3, 2025 - 4:18PM Share via Email Share on Facebook Share on Whatsapp Écoutez cet article Copied URL to clipboard Punters Preview - Melbourne Cup with Katelyn McDonald Join Alex Donnelly & Katelyn McDonald as they cast an eye over the Melbourne Cup field, along with selections from the Flemington... Caulfield Cup winner Jamie Melham loves Half Yours, her Melbourne Cup favourite. The same cannot always be said about “half yours”, an occasional point of contention in the Melham household. The star jockey has ridden a wave of positivity and happiness this year with her husband Ben, going from matrimony to spring major winner. Watch live coverage of the 2025 Spring Racing Carnival events with Racing.com available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1. “Ben loves the name,” Melham said with a grin. “Now we’re married, half (prizemoney) goes to him and half goes to me.” Caulfield Cup glory last month on Half Yours, favourite to win the race that stops a nation on Tuesday at Flemington, has challenged Melham’s life milestone order. “Getting married, I said to Ben, was ‘the best day of my life’,” Melham said. “Caulfield Cup was pretty close to it, best day on the track anyway, let’s go with that!” Melham enjoyed a historic Caulfield Cup success, the 29-year-old became the first female jockey to win the 149th edition, but reality dawned the morning after. “The best thing was Ben rolled over and said, ‘Honey, I’m so proud of you’,” Melham said. “I’ve always wanted to make him proud and make my family proud.” Jockey Jamie Melham with Melbourne Cup favourite Half Yours. Photo: Michael Klein In a sign of the times and future, as female jockeys outnumber the men in apprentice ranks Australia wide, the Melhams are set to become the first married riders to compete in a Melbourne Cup, but probably not the last. Good friends of the Melhams, Ethan Brown and Celine Gaudray, who got engaged earlier in the year, will make their Cup debut on Tuesday aboard Middle Earth and Torranzino respectively. Ben Melham, who has piloted 22 Group 1 winners including a major, the Golden Slipper, two Australian Cups and the All Star Mile most recently, has cut his weight to ride veteran stayer Smokin’ Romans at 53.5kg in the Cup. Melham (nee Kah) coincidently rode Smokin’ Romans in the 2022 Melbourne Cup and finished seventh on the Group 1 winner. “I’ve got to lock Ben in the house and make sure he doesn’t eat anything,” Melham said. “Fifty-four kilograms he gets (at a stretch) so 53.5kg is tough … I still want to beat him though.” Melham has ridden 1345 winners, including 18 Group 1s. The champion jockey boasts multiple state and metropolitan premierships, originally in her native South Australia and then Victoria. Melham in 2020-21 became the first Melbourne jockey to ride more than 100 city winners (105) in a single season and was duly awarded the Scobie Breasley Medal. The Caulfield Cup victory this month topped the lot in two minutes and 29 seconds. Jamie and Ben Melham - the first married couple to ride in the Melbourne Cup. Picture: Instagram/jamieleemelham07 There’s bragging rights at stake for Jamie and Ben Melham. Picture: Instagram/jamieleemelham07 “I’ve had an amazing career, plenty of Group 1 wins, but nothing comes close to the feeling I got crossing the line in the Caulfield Cup, just a weird feeling,” Melham said. “We dream of this growing up, when you get your jockey’s licence and they ask you, ‘What races do you want to win?’ “You nearly always say the Melbourne Cup, Caulfield Cup and Cox Plate, you never really expect you’re going to get there. “The feeling crossing the line (Caulfield Cup), I just had goose bumps. I felt numb, all I wanted to do was jump off the horse and give it a cuddle. It was just incredible.” Melham’s bid for more racing history has coincided with the 10th anniversary of her friend Michelle Payne’s Melbourne Cup triumph in 2015 aboard Prince Of Penzance. Trailblazer Payne became the first female jockey to win Australia’s most iconic race. Melham, like many contemporaries past including Payne and present, who compete against men in the saddle daily, wants to be judged on riding records, not gender. “Winning 100 metro in a season was really special for me, it still is,” Melham said. “You don’t think about it (gender) until you see the headlines, ‘first female to win the Caulfield Cup’. “There’s a lot of people in the world, so, it’s pretty special when you’re the first and only one that’s won that race. “Ten years on (from Payne) has got a nice ring to it, to get the Melbourne Cup again (by a female jockey but) Michelle hasn’t won a Caulfield Cup and Melbourne Cup!” Engaged jockeys Ethan Brown and Celine Gaudray are both riding in the Melbourne Cup. Picture: Jake Nowakowski The milestone Caulfield Cup win under self-induced, not outwardly obvious, anxiety to perform on the big stage has inspired Melham to strive for more. “It’s mainly belief, now I want to win the Melbourne Cup as well,” she said. “It’s just a bit more relaxing going into that race, I don’t really let the nerves get to me usually, but I felt it before the Caulfield Cup. It’s relief, it’s over and done with now. “I’ve got that major win. Now, I’ve got to try harder to win the Melbourne Cup. “It’s still pressure. It’s just nice to tick that box to get the Caulfield Cup. I’ll still be feeling sick (Melbourne Cup) but it’s a bit easier to stomach.” Melham has placed third in two of the four Melbourne Cups she has contested to date, including Okita Soushi last year. She also finished third in her Cup debut in 2020 on international Prince Of Arran. “The first time I rode in it was another sick feeling. I was following the favourite and it got pulled out of the race and I had a lot of ground to make up,” Melham said. “Prince Of Arran flew home and just got beaten … we always have unlucky runs in racing, but nothing really like the Melbourne Cup. “If you’re unlucky, you think about it for the next year. “There’s only one of those every year. I’ve had a couple nice placings in the race, not a win yet, and this is definitely the best chance I’ve got going into the race.” Half Yours is the TAB’s $6 favourite from Valiant King ($7), Al Riffa ($8), Buckaroo ($8) and Presage Nocturne ($9). Melham’s eyes lit up in the Cup last year when Okita Soushi, a $19 chance, found the front briefly at the about the 200m mark. Copied URL to clipboard Billy Slater reunited with Melbourne Cup mount Sammy Billy Slater and Sammy have teamed up at the... “The next 200m went for five minutes,” she said. “He was a good chance in the race and ran well, but Half Yours is a lot more talented horse than him. “If I could give him a similar ride to Okita Soushi last year, hopefully he’ll hold on over the line as well.” Knight’s Choice won the Cup last year from Japanese raider Warp Speed, with Okita Soushi less than a length behind. Melham has measured sights on the top prize this year. “I always have better days when I don’t have crazy expectations,” Melham said. “Obviously I’m dreaming about it and hope we can, but I don’t think about it too much, I’ll think about it once we cross the line. “I like to keep it out of my head, do the form and go out there and ride the horse. “I’m pretty good at getting on the horse and turning everything off.” Jamie Melham rides Half Yours. Picture: Michael Klein Jamie and Ben Melham. Picture: Instagram/jamieleemelham07 Melham has matured on and off track through difficult experiences including suspensions and head injuries sustained in a life-threatening race fall in 2023. “I’m just really happy off the track and on the track,” Melham said. “I just feel like I don’t need to prove anything to anyone anymore. I changed how I approached things the last few years. “I don’t really care if people don’t like me, before I needed everyone to like me, it’s a thing when you grow. Now I’m just happy. I don’t need to have people’s approval. “If they like me, they like me. I spoke to Tony (McEvoy) about that on Saturday night. He said we’ve always been there for you and we’ll continue to be there for you.” Melham has shared multiple career highlights coincidently with the McEvoy family. Tony McEvoy helped Melham win jockey premierships in South Australia early doors and supplied her first Melbourne Cup Day winner, Dollar For Dollar, in 2017. Dollar For Dollar, a beloved nanny for young horses on Melham’s farm, is “fat and happy, eating all my food”. The McEvoys saddled Melham’s record 100th single-season metropolitan winner in 2021 and last year provided her first Group 1 winner in her hometown Adelaide. Jamie Melham creates history to team up with team McEvoy and win The Caulfield Cup aboard Half Yours ðŸ†ðŸŽ‰ðŸ¾ pic.twitter.com/GU0dGfb48O— Vince Caligiuri (@Vinnycenzo_71) October 18, 2025 “They’ve been so incredible for me, for so many years put up with my, what’s a polite way of saying it, my sh*t,” Melham said. “They’ve put up with me for a long time, so it’s nice to repay them a bit. “I said to Tony, before we got on the horse at Caulfield, I said, ‘Thank you for keeping me on it, Tony. Thank you’. “He said, ‘Why would you have to thank me for that? You were always going to ride it’. “That was really special. They’ve done so much for me, my whole career and always been good friends. “I could call Tony and speak to him any day about anything and this was just incredible. I couldn’t script it any better to ride a major for Tony and Calvin. “First Melbourne Cup, now hopefully, for Tony and Calvin.” Melham has the blueprint for Half Yours success, circumstances permitting on Tuesday in the Melbourne Cup at Flemington. Melham has won two of three starts on the Team McEvoy-trained Caulfield Cup winner and learned from each experience. Half Yours emerged as a Caulfield Cup contender with a breathtaking Naturalism win and stamped expectations in the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes. It’s been 10 years since Michelle Payne won the Melbourne Cup with Prince of Penzance. Picture: Jason Edwards The Turnbull run modelled the subsequent Caulfield Cup triumph, with Half Yours charging home from back in the field. Half Yours finished fourth in the Turnbull then won the Caulfield Cup as a short-priced favourite. Melham enjoyed the perfect run on Half Yours in the Naturalism, able to settle closer to the speed, switch off and surge late for a comfortable victory. “He’s the most professional horse out there, push button, you can ask him to do whatever you want him to do out there,” Melham said. “It’s really important for these races, especially … the Melbourne Cup you’ve got to push and pull them, relax … there’s nothing worse than riding a (Cup) horse that doesn’t like it. “It’s a very, very long way around there.” Half Yours has tightened up again remarkably since the Caulfield Cup and Melham was thrilled by the continued progression. Half Yours has effectively raced since March, with runs well spaced, and emerged as a stayer of the future being only a five-year-old. “He’s got a very big set of lungs, he doesn’t blow,” Melham said. “Doesn’t matter how far you go on him, he doesn’t blow, he’ll get the trip. I’ve learned a few things from last start. Calvin McEvoy, Jamie Melham and Tony & Calvin McEvoy after winning the Caufield Cup. (Photo by Reg Ryan/Racing Photos via Getty Images) “I don’t think he’s a horse you can make a long run on. I’ll just change a few things and ride him a little bit differently, but he’s definitely going to make the trip. “When I won on him in the Naturalism, that was the perfect run on him, he had to do a 300m sprint, and he’s just not a horse you need to take off early on. “In the Caulfield Cup we just had to get going on him a bit too soon. He won and still won well, but certain things I may change in the Melbourne Cup on him.” Melham has respect for the opposition and first-hand experience on many, either in or out of the saddle. “I’ve ridden or ridden against a lot of the horses in the race, so I do know a lot about them, obviously the internationals I’ll need to do homework on,” Melham said. “I don’t think he’s (Half Yours) a horse you need to over-think too much. He could do whatever you need him to do out there.” Melham’s mentors – Janice and the late Colin McKenna – bred Half Yours, who has delivered a career highlight already with the Caulfield Cup. Half Yours was among a number of horses sold by McKenna last year after her husband died following a battle with illness. Melham only realised the McKennas bred Half Yours after winning the Naturalism. “Janice was my first call when I got out of the races (Caulfield Cup),” she said. “I didn’t actually realise they bred the horse when I first rode him and after he won Janice was there and gave me a hug.” More Coverage Melbourne Cup turned on its head Mitch Lewis Billy Slater’s Melbourne Cup move says it all Ben Talintyre Janice McKenna watched the Caulfield Cup from the family-owned Union Station Hotel, Woolsthorpe, in western Victoria and visited her late husband’s grave shortly after to thank him for helping Melham get the win. “She was telling me he did his job and I did my job,” Melham said. “Hopefully she can go back there on Tuesday.” Read related topics:Melbourne Join the conversation (0 Comments) Add your comment to this story To join the conversation, please log in. Don't have an account? 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