Jamie Melham has become the first female jockey to salute in the Group 1 $5 million Caulfield Cup (2400m) aboard favourite Half Yours, giving the legendary hoop the first of her elusive ‘majors’ in racing.
A handsomely supported $2.60 market elect, Melham steered the chestnut into a comfortable midfield spot early, with Bankers Choice ($81) and Adelaide River ($19) making the pace.
However, approaching the halfway mark, Adelaide River took off blasting clear of Bankers Choice and spreading the field wide open.
When the pack began to cluster again around the home turn, Melham expertly guided the five-year-old to deliver his challenge, racing to the front over the final 200m to score by a half-length.
Alongside the Melbourne Cup, Cox Plate and Golden Slipper, the Caulfield Cup is revered as one of the majors of the Australian turf, and the victory brought Melham to tears,
“Just you saying Caulfield Cup is going to make me cry,” she said after pulling her horse up.
“I’ve had an incredible career and ridden 17 Group 1s now but that ‘major’ has obviously eluded me.
“I just wanted to get one but now I want three more and maybe a Melbourne Cup, and this horse is going to run the trip out.”
Purchased for just $305,000 last November, Half Yours has already proven a bargain buy, and is now a firm $4 favourite for next month’s Melbourne Cup over 3200m.
Melham says she knew the Tony and Calvin McEvoy-trained gelding, by unfashionable and unheralded sire St Jean, was the right horse for the job.
“I’ve tried not to think about it for the last few days because I wanted to come out here and give him the best ride I could; I knew he was the best horse in the race,” she said.
“Everything was perfect. I worked out perfectly for him but he had to dig deep and he’s an absolute superstar horse.
“What Tony and Calvin have done with him, they’ve just made this absolute professional of a horse.
“He’s push-button. He doesn’t like jumping that well, so I had to really get up him today, and he just spat the bit out and relaxed.”
