'Nothing compares to this feeling' - Jamie Melham seals historic Caulfield Cup-Melbourne Cup double on Half Yours

Jamie Melham made Australian racing history when becoming the first female rider to complete the Caulfield Cup-Melbourne Cup double with a flawless ride on leading fancy Half Yours.

In a race in which it paid to be close to the pace, Melham had Half Yours ideally positioned to pounce and grasped two crucial gaps to gain a dream run up the inside in the straight on the way to a two-and-three-quarter-length victory in the A$10 million (£4.96m/€5.65m) Group 1 handicap at Flemington on Tuesday.

Goodie Two Shoes, a first runner in the Lexus Melbourne Cup for JP McManus, fared best of the six British- and Irish-trained horses in second for Joseph O'Brien.

• Who is Jamie Melham? A lookback at the rollercoaster career of a rider making history in Australia 

• There was the Covid scandal and an induced coma but Jamie Melham can now be remembered first and foremost as a Melbourne Cup winner 

• 'It was a huge thrill for the McManus family' - Joseph O'Brien reacts to Melbourne Cup runner-up effort of Goodie Two Shoes 

Al Riffa, a stablemate of Goodie Two Shoes and regarded as the best European hope, stayed on from an unpromising position to finish seventh, while the Willie Mullins-trained Absurde finished eighth.

Half Yours, trained by the father-and-son partnership of Tony and Calvin McEvoy, was bought for A$305,000 (£151,342/€172,363) just over a fortnight on from last year's Melbourne Cup as part of an online dispersal sale, having previously been trained by Ciaron Maher.

He was the joint-shortest-priced local runner at 8-1 after justifying favouritism at Caulfield last month and became the first Melbourne Cup winner for the stable and Melham, ten years on from Michelle Payne's groundbreaking success on Prince Of Penzance.

• WATCH: The Story of the Melbourne Cup: How Australia’s Greatest Race Stopped a Nation

Melham, who rode at the Shergar Cup in 2019 under her maiden name Kah, said: "This is what we do it for and why we get out of bed and work so hard. It's a tough industry and not all glorious and perfect for a jockey, as some might think.

"I've had an amazing year, having got married and had some brilliant days on the track, but nothing ever compares to this feeling right now.

"I wanted to ride him as quiet as I could but at the two-furlong pole I couldn't go any quieter. I had to let him go. This horse was so fit and strong, he went through a tight gap and then an extremely tight gap, but I had no say – he just took me through.

"You grow up thinking you want to ride in the Melbourne Cup, but you never actually think you might win it. You don't think it will happen . . . but it's just happened."

She added: "Tony and Calvin have been incredible supporters of mine and have been there for me since I was a 15-year-old kid. They have done an amazing job and deserve this so much."

Half Yours: runs out a convincing winner of the Melbourne CupCredit: Robert Cianflone (Getty Images)

The two-mile contest was run at a stop-start gallop, with Smokin' Romans – ridden by the winning jockey's husband Ben – and Royal Supremacy setting slow fractions early on, before the Joao Moreira-ridden Land Legend injected some much-needed pace into the race in the back straight.

Land Legend, one of five runners for Chris Waller, built up a near ten-length lead but was soon in trouble on the turn into the home straight, with the Wayne Lordan-ridden Goodie Two Shoes hitting the front inside the final two furlongs.

Half Yours soon loomed on the inside of Goodie Two Shoes and asserted his dominance in the final furlong, becoming the 13th horse to complete the big Cup double. 

Middle Earth was a further length and a half back in third, with River Of Stars another two and a half lengths back in fourth. Presage Nocturne, the 9-2 favourite trained in France, was well beaten in 19th of the 24 runners.

Jamie Melham looks to the stands on the way to Melbourne Cup victoryCredit: Vince Caligiuri (Getty Images)

Tony McEvoy won six Adelaide metropolitan premierships before moving their base from Angaston in South Australia to Ballarat in Victoria in 2022, three years after Calvin joined the licence. It is a move that has paid off.

McEvoy said: "This is unbelievable and it's been such a team effort. This is our great race and it's so special to win it. The Melbourne Cup has been everything since growing up.

"I lost sight of him in the back straight when Land Legend built up a lead – my eyes aren't as good as they used to be – but I then caught him ducking back to the inside. He's a very special horse.

"It's been a great race for the McEvoy family, with Kerrin winning it three times and my brother Phillip owning a horse who finished second, and now for us to be able to win it is just amazing."

Read more . . .

Who is Jamie Melham? A lookback at the rollercoaster career of a rider making history in Australia 

There was the Covid scandal and an induced coma but Jamie Melham can now be remembered first and foremost as a Melbourne Cup winner 

'It was a huge thrill for the McManus family' - Joseph O'Brien reacts to Melbourne Cup runner-up effort of Goodie Two Shoes 

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