EMMA FREEDMAN: Jamie Melham on verge of becoming first female jockey to win Melbourne Cup since Michelle Payne
Ten years on from Michelle Payne’s fairytale Melbourne Cup victory and the next chapter in racing’s gender-busting story is poised to unfold.
On board Prince of Penzance, at the princely odds of $101, Payne broke new ground for the fairer sex, screaming — with her success and sentiments — that the girls can indeed do it too. There’s a good chance that one of the girls could do it again in 2025.
I’m not one for separating the girls from the boys. They ride under the same conditions on a level playing field. Racing is the only sport in the world where that happens.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.The girls sometimes have an advantage in the size and weight department, while the boy’s strength is a plus. Out female riders well and truly hold their own in the metro riding ranks across the country.
It’s not that they are female jockeys, but jockeys who are female.
Jamie Melham’s story is well documented. A South Australian gun apprentice and an equestrian genius who still harbours Olympic ambitions.
There was a brush with the authorities during COVID and an awful fall which rendered her unable to ride for many months. The return was long and arduous, and she struggled to find form following her injury.
But now she heads into the Cup after winning the Caulfield Cup on Half Yours, who has been up and running since March of this year. He loves wet ground, which he will get with the grim forecast.
A Cups double would be a milestone of magnitude for an extremely talented horsewoman.
Jet-setting Brit Rachel King has not only tasted Group 1 glory in her now native Australia, but also in Japan, where she continues to have successful extended stints
She pairs up with the old boy Arapaho, or Rappy as he is known. Rappy loves the two miles and wet going. But has had a few little setbacks and as such is on the back foot heading into the Cup. This nine-year-old might not be the ultimate class in the field but will acquit himself the only way he knows how – with grit. I’ll be throwing him in my first four.
On one of the rank outsiders of the field, Torranzino, who secured himself a Cup spot with a Geelong Cup victory, is Celine Gaudray. Gaudray, in her first Cup, is a rising star in Victoria and will have focussed hard over the last 10 days to get her weight to 51kg. No easy feat when you’re an athlete riding a 500kg animal each day at 70kmh.
It’s also worth noting that Gai Waterhouse, alongside her training partner in Adrian Bott, is looking for her second Cup victory, this time with Vauban. The eight-year-old European stayer has a bad habit of getting overexcited on race day and has been in their stable for just under a year now.
The work that the team have put into Vauban to get him to relax on race day and enjoy his surroundings rather than being overawed by the occasion is amazing. Getting him to win a Cup would be some training effort.
At Randwick, the Big Dance takes centre stage – a $3 million event over the famous Royal Randwick mile. Alysha Collett is level-headed, confident and a hard worker and will ride Cranky Harry for Matt Dunn.
Louise Day, Anna Roper, Winona Costin also take rides in the race, though the favourite Gringotts looks incredibly hard to beat. Randwick will attract a decent crowd for those wanting to revel in a super day of racing across the country.
The next crop of young women who choose to be professional rider are no doubt inspired by the aforementioned stars, but also the likes of Angela Jones and Emily Lang, who recently battled it out for the Brisbane jockey’s premiership with Jones the victory by a short half-head.
The NSW apprentice program is full of young women who will help shape the future of the sport. Siena Grima, Molly Bourke, Jett Newman and Mollie Fitzgerald are names to watch.
All these young women are quality people, well spoken, strong, balanced and tactically savvy in their riding.
The future is theirs for the taking.
EMMA’S TIPS
Melbourne Cup: Half Yours
The Big Dance: Gringotts
