Melham rides Half Yours into Melbourne Cup history

Jamie Melham is only the second female jockey to win the Melbourne Cup

Jamie Melham rode Half Yours to victory in the Melbourne Cup to become only the second female jockey to win Australia's most famous horse race.

The 8-1 winner burst clear of the field in the final stages to finish three lengths clear of Goodie Two Shoes, trained by Ireland's Joseph O'Brien and ridden by Wayne Lordan, with Middle Earth in third.

Melham and Half Yours also claimed the Caulfield Cup last month, making her the first woman to win the Caulfield-Melbourne Cup double.

Moments after her win on Tuesday, Melham told the local Nine Network: "What just happened? Oh my god. This is what we do it for, this is why we get out of bed every morning at 4am."

Half Yours is trained in Australia by father and son Tony and Calvin McEvoy.

The 5-1 favourite Presage Nocturne finished 19th in what was the 165th edition of the two-mile race.

O'Brien's Al Riffa was seventh with Absurde eighth for fellow Irish trainer Willie Mullins, while Meydaan finished 10th for British trainers Simon and Ed Crisford.

Melham said she knew she was going to come first the moment she went past her husband Ben, a fellow jockey who was riding Smokin' Romans. His horse finished 14th.

The 29-year-old, who returned to racing after a bad fall in 2023, said she has had an amazing year.

"Got married, had some really great days on the track, but nothing ever, ever compares to this feeling right now," she said.

Melham also paid tribute to her grandfather, who died last week.

"The last thing he watched was the Caulfield Cup, and he was such a big supporter of mine," she said.

"So he's up there opening those gaps for me because I needed a few gaps open then."

Michelle Payne, who was the first woman to win the Melbourne Cup in 2015 on the 100-1 outsider Prince of Penzance, spoke to Melham after the race, saying: "Welcome to the club."

The 80,000-strong crowd at Flemington braved a cold, wet and windy day to witness what is often called the 'race that stops a nation'.

The Melbourne Cup was first run in 1861 and is worth 10m Australian dollars (£5m), making it the world's richest handicap race - a type of race where each horse is allocated a weight, according to its ability and past performances, as a way to level the playing field.

However, the race remains a controversial event and in recent years has attracted demonstrations over animal welfare.

Between 2013 and 2020, six horses died either during or after running in the Melbourne Cup - four of them as a result of injuries sustained during the race, leading to race organisers introducing additional safety measures.