Horses come toward the bend in the Lexus Melbourne Cup on 7 November 2023. File photo. Photo: Getty / Asanka Ratnayake
Jockey Jamie Melham said she will be doing a "rain dance" on Monday, ahead of riding Melbourne Cup favourite Half Yours.
Attempting to become just the second female jockey to win Australia's most famous horse race, Melham has spoken confidently about her horse ahead of Tuesday's Melbourne Cup.
Melham rode Half Yours to win the Caulfield Cup last month, cementing the five-year-old gelding as the favourite for the Melbourne Cup.
Forecasts predict plenty of rain around Melbourne on Monday and Tuesday, and Melham told ABC Sport's Summer Grandstand that it was fine by her.
"I'm going to do the rain dance on Monday," she said.
"We're apparently getting a hell of a lot of rain, which is going to suit this horse.
"He loves it; he swims through it; he doesn't need it, but he definitely appreciates it."
Half Yours has seven wins from his 14 career races, including last month's group one Caulfield Cup, and September's group three Naturalism Stakes, also at Caulfield.
HALF YOURS AND JAMIE MELHAM - IT'S HISTORY AT CAULFIELD
— 7HorseRacing (@7horseracing) October 18, 2025
The favourite swamps them late to win a remarkable Caulfield Cup! The McEvoy father and son combo have done it as Jamie Melham becomes the first woman to ride the winner of the 2400M Classic pic.twitter.com/e56lVA3dW5
The five-year-old is yet to run a race over the Melbourne Cup length of 3,200 metres, but Melham said she was supremely confident the distance would not be an issue for Half Yours.
"I learned a lot from him in the Caulfield Cup. I had to get going too soon, I think, for the horse," Melham said.
"He made a good 500-600m run, and when I won on him in the Naturalism [Stakes], I only got out 300m before home, and he was very sharp.
"I think he'll definitely get the trip if I can just find the rail, put him to sleep, and… let that first wave of horses get past me and just wait for the second crack at it."
If Half Yours wins at Flemington Racecourse on Tuesday, he would be the 12th horse to win the Caulfield Cup and Melbourne Cup in the same year.
Without A FIght was the last horse to achieve the feat in 2023.
Melham would also be the second female jockey to win the Melbourne Cup. Michelle Payne is the only female jockey to win the Melbourne Cup, riding Prince of Penzance to an upset win in 2015.
-ABC
