Jamie Melham became the second female jockey to win the Melbourne Cup when guiding Half Yours to victory at Flemington.
The Australian is also the first woman to claim the Melbourne Cup-Caulfield Cup double on the Tony and Calvin McEvoy-trained gelding.
Her win comes 10 years after Michelle Payne created history riding Prince Of Penzance.
Following the victory, Melham told Australia’s Nine Network: “This is why we get up out of bed every morning at 4am… it’s tough.
“It’s not all glorious and perfect, as everyone can see sometimes.
“I’ve had an amazing year. Got married, had some really great days on the track, but nothing ever, ever compares to this feeling right now I’m feeling.”
Half Yours – the only Australian-bred horse in the 24-strong field – was among the favourites to take advantage of the soft track after sporadic rain.
The five-year-old was in a tussle through the closing stages with Joseph O’Brien’s Goodie Two Shoes, but Melham kicked at the perfect time to cross the finish line nearly three lengths clear.
The JP McManus-owned Goodie Two Shoes held on for second, with Middle Earth coming third and River of Stars finishing fourth.
Melham beat her husband Ben on board Smokin’ Romans (14th) to the finish line, with the two sharing a moment after the race.
Jamie Melham holds her trophy aloft after riding Half Yours to win the Melbourne Cup (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)
She used her post-race interview to pay tribute to her grandfather, who died last week.
“I have to mention my grandpa,” said Melham.
“He died last week. The last thing he watched was the Caulfield Cup, and he was such a big supporter of mine.
“So he’s up there opening those gaps for me because I needed a few gaps open then.”
Al Riffa – also trained by Ireland’s O’Brien – received a mountain of late support, but was unable to break away as he crossed the line in seventh place.
O’Brien was searching for a third Melbourne Cup victory while Willie Mullins failed to replicate his Breeders’ Cup heroics with Absurde who could only finish in eighth place.
Simon and Ed Crisford’s Meydaan finished 10th with Brian Ellison’s Onesmoothoperator hampered by the rain back in 16th.
