THE ENORMITY OF JAMIE MELHAM'S ACHIEVEMENT IS FAR MORE THAN JUST ITS HISTORICAL CONTEXT

By Graham Potter | Wednesday, November 5, 2025

You simply cannot exaggerate the enormity of Jamie Melham’s achievement in winning the Melbourne Cup aboard Half Yours on Tuesday … and I’m not even talking about the historical aspect of that success with Melham being the first female rider to complete the Caulfield Cup / Melbourne Cup double.

There have been the hard-earned good times in terms of racing results, but Melham has also been challenged on so many fronts in her career … from significant physical injury … through scandal (yes, it can be mentioned … who of us has never made a mistake) … through the punishment of momentum-breaking ‘time out’ with testing suspensions.

A large level of adversity, which might have broken a lesser person, has come Melham’s way, some admittedly by self-inflicted wounds, and, at the worst of times, that would have placed severe pressure on her mental toughness which, contrary to some logic, appeared to get stronger the more it became hard-pressed.

So, there are many examples of situations and circumstances that Melham has had to overcome, but let’s just examine one.

Many jockey’s have suffered serious injury, and Melham’s description of what she went through following a fall from Flyball on March 11, 2023 in the Sires Produce Stakes at Flemington, the same Flemington track where she was later to claim her greatest moment in the saddle, gives a first hand idea of what jockeys are risking every time they get a leg-up onto a horse.

“When I fell, I apparently couldn’t breathe for about twenty seconds, or maybe a bit more than that,” said Melham speaking to Haimish McLachlan in a Channel 7 interview two months into her recovery. “I was, apparently, in and out of consciousness.

“I was put into an induced coma … and then I wouldn’t wake up. Because of the medication I was on I was so zonked out I just kept on sleeping, so it took me ages to wake up.

“The main injury was the bleeding on the brain. I was in a coma for about five days … and I broke my wrist, which I only found out a long time after that. My foot was broken and, I think, my nose … but that wasn’t really relevant compared to the brain injury.

“I don’t remember anything about the fall, but I remember waking up in Epworth Hospital and I thought I lived in Adelaide still and that I was eighteen. I kept saying my address which was my address when I was back home in Adelaide.

“I had to google myself and it told me … oh, I’m twenty-seven, not eighteen.

‘I did describe my brain at the time as being mush. I couldn’t remember anything for a long time.

“The first week I got home from hospital I couldn’t walk straight. My vision was not good. Apparently, on the left side of me I couldn’t see anything. I kept walking into walls and it felt like I was hungover all of the time.

“I would wake up feeling weird and knowing I’m not right … and I’d get really tired … exhausted … early.”

To get from there to here, in itself … apart from all of the other speedbumps she has to hurdle … is both an amazing and an inspirational story.

And, lastly, there is one more quote from the past to cherish … not from Melham and not related to the Melbourne Cup … but from trainer Peter Moody, which now has a very emotional ring to it … and what a parting shot it is!

Speaking back on RSN on April 3, 2023 when Melham was still in recovery mode, Moody said that she needed to take all the time necessary to recover and then added, “She (Melham) is the biggest thing in our sport. Gai Waterhouse has been the queen, this is the princess and we’re going to need the princess to step up and be the queen one day.”

Prophecy fulfilled!

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