‘A rising star’: Michelle Payne says this female jockey is primed to continue her Cup legacy

Michelle Payne would love one of the talented trio of female jockeys booked to ride in Australia’s most famous race to join her as a Melbourne Cup winning jockey on Tuesday.

A decade has passed since Payne rode 100-1 shot Prince of Penzance to victory in 2015 to become the first female to win the race. She remains the only female to achieve that feat.

Jamie Melham, who became the first female jockey to ride a Caulfield Cup winner this year on Half Yours, will ride the same horse out as favourite to win the Melbourne Cup. Melham finished third last year in the cup aboard Okita Soushi.

Rachel King will ride Arapaho in this year’s Cup, having ridden in the race four times previously while Celine Gaudray has earned her first ride in the race on Geelong Cup winner Torranzino.

Payne, a big supporter of female jockeys, will have her eyes fixed on those three horses as she hopes the ranks of Melbourne Cup winning female jockeys doubles.

“I would just love it, especially for a young rider like Celine but also Rachel and Jamie, who have had a few opportunities now. It means just as much to them as it does to Celine,” Payne said.

Payne described Gaudray as “a rising star” saying the 24-year-old was at the same age as Jamie Melham was when she hit her straps.

“It takes time. It’s not a sport where you just thrive from the start, especially as a female rider as you really do need to gain the experience and the opportunities. Times are changing. You can see from her experience in show jumping, her horsemanship and balance and everything she brings from that to racing is unbelievable,” Payne said.

Payne said her only tip to Gaudray would be to enjoy the excitement that comes with having her first ride in the Cup and to stay relaxed enough to ride Torranzino like she would any other race.

“It’s just about keeping yourself focused and in the zone that it’s just another race. It’s still the same principles: you have to do your best from A to B. She is a very good rider. She will be able to cope with it fine,” Payne said.

Calvin McEvoy, the trainer of Melham’s mount Half Yours, said he has no doubts the gelding can run the two miles in just her 15th run. The five-year-old has been the star of the spring so far, winning the Naturalism Stakes, before a tough fourth behind Sir Delius and Via Sistina in the Turnbull Stakes led her into an outstanding Caulfield Cup win.

“He’s bounced through the Caulfield Cup. It was a high pressure gruelling mile and a half contest. He put everything on the line for us. It would not have been a surprise for a horse to be feeling a little bit after that but he hasn’t. He was bouncing off the track this morning saying ‘give me more’,” McEvoy said.

“We feel like he has another big run in him.”

McEvoy identified the Joseph O’Brien-trained Al Riffa as the favourites biggest danger with the Irish-based stayer also good on wet ground, conditions which Half Yours enjoys.

“If the rain is around and we get a soft track it is only going to make his chances even better. He loves soft ground,” McEvoy said.

McEvoy trains the horse in partnership with his father, the legendary trainer Tony McEvoy. He said a Melbourne Cup win would be the crowning glory for his father who has won most feature races in Australia.

“To win a Melbourne Cup would be life changing,” McEvoy said.

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