By Ian Ransom, Reuters
Michelle Payne wins 2015 Melbourne Cup on Prince of Penzance. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Jamie Melham will bid to become the first female jockey to claim a coveted double in Australian horse racing when she rides Caulfield Cup winner Half Yours in the NZD$10.3 million Melbourne Cup at Flemington on Tuesday.
Last month, Melham became the first woman to win the Caulfield Cup in its 149-year history, guiding the Tony and Calvin McEvoy-trained Half Yours to an emphatic victory in the NZD$5.7 million handicap over 2400m.
Ten years after Michelle Payne's breakthrough on Prince of Penzance, Melham will look to become only the second woman to win the Melbourne Cup in the two-mile handicap's 165th running.
Do the rain dance
Bookmakers on Monday rated Half Yours second behind favourite Al Riffa (6/1) as rain drenched Melbourne, and more wet weather forecast for Tuesday could only help the five-year-old gelding's chances, Melham said.
"I'm going to do the rain dance on Monday," she said at the weekend. "He loves it. He swims through it. He doesn't need it but he definitely appreciates it."
The Caulfield Cup is often seen as an indicator of Melbourne Cup form, even if only 12 horses have won both in the same year.
The latest was in 2023 when Without A Fight became the first horse since Ethereal in 2001 to complete the double.
The 2024 Melbourne Cup trophy Photo: AAP / www.photosport.nz
Melham, who raced as Jamie Kah until marrying jockey Ben Melham in January, rode third on Ciaron Maher-trained Okita Soushi in last year's Melbourne Cup won by rank outsider Knight's Choice, four years after coming third on Prince of Arran.
Joseph O'Brien-trained Al Riffa won the 2800m Irish St Leger in September and was narrow favourite for the Melbourne Cup on Monday despite being saddled with the top weight of 59kg and a bad barrier 19 draw over the weekend.
O'Brien knows what it takes to win "the race that stops the nation", having done so twice -- in 2017 with Rekindling and 2020 with Twilight Payment.
He has a top class jockey in the saddle in Mark Zahra, a back-to-back winner on Gold Trip (2022) and Without A Fight (2023).
Zahra has been in winning form at Flemington, claiming the Victorian Derby and the Coolmore Stud Stakes, both Group One races, last Saturday.
The Australian said Al Riffa was "probably the best horse" O'Brien had brought to the Melbourne Cup.
"He's very quiet, relaxed, which you need for a Melbourne Cup horse, as they've got to run the two miles. I know it's different from race day, but his action looks beautiful."
Favourites often fare poorly at the Melbourne Cup, which can seem more like a lottery than a race due to the gruelling distance and field of 24 horses.
The last favourite to win was Fiorente in 2013.
2024 Melbourne Cup at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne. Photo: AAP / www.photosport.nz
Last year's top-rated Buckaroo came ninth while Vauban flopped to 14th in 2023.
The setbacks often do little to stop trainers from trying their luck with the same horse or taking on a discarded one from another stable.
Vauban was off-loaded by Irish trainer Willie Mullins after finishing 11th last year but local trainers Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott have entered the eight-year-old gelding in a third successive Melbourne Cup.
Buckaroo will also return as home trainer Chris Waller goes big with five entrants for the second year in a row.
-Reuters
