Melham on Half Yours is 1st woman to ride Caulfield Cup win
Jamie Melham became the first woman to ride a winner in the Caulfield Cup when she guided betting favorite Half Yours to victory Saturday in the 149th running of the Group 1, $3.2 million handicap in Australia.
The 1 1/2-mile turf test is the first of the big three in the Melbourne Spring Carnival. After the win, Half Yours shortened in international betting to a 5-2 joint favorite with Al Riffa to win the Melbourne Cup (G1) on Nov. 4.
Top sprinter Ka Ying Rising wins The Everest.
Melham had Half Yours traveling ninth in the field of 18 horses. She asked for more in the final three furlongs. The 5-year-old St Jean gelding took the lead with 175 yards to go and went on to win by a half-length.
“Just hearing you say Caulfield Cup is going to make me cry,” Melham told the Australian Associated Press. “I’ve had an incredible career and ridden 17 Group 1s now, but that major has obviously eluded me. I just wanted to get one, but now I want maybe three more, maybe a Melbourne Cup, and this horse is going to run the trip out.”
Half Yours, who went off at 6-5, finished at 2:29.05 without a run-up for the 2,400 meters, 15 yards less than 1 1/2 miles, on the left-handed turf course which was rated good. Trained by Tony McEvoy and his son and Calvin, Half Yours paid $4.60, $3.80 and $3.40 across the board in the World Pool.
River Of Stars, a 90-1 long shot who was forward early, finished second and returned $68.60 and $30.20. Valiant King, who was 25-1, rallied to take third and pay $16.60 to show. Presage Nocturne at 60-1 took fourth.
Sold nearly a year ago for $305,000, Half Yours is owned by a partnership led by Kildalton Park Racing in South Australia. He was fourth two weeks ago in the 1 1/4-mile Turnbull (G1) at nearby Flemington.
The US$3.8 million Cox Plate (G1), a 1 1/4-mile weight-for-age race next Saturday at Moonee Valley, and the US$6.4 million Melbourne Cup (G1), a two-mile handicap Nov. 3 at Flemington, are the other headline races on the Spring Carnival calendar.