Jamie Melham becomes first female jockey to win historic Australian horse racing double

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Jamie Melham rode Half Yours to victory in the 165th Melbourne Cup on Tuesday to become the first female jockey to win a historic Australian racing double.

A decade after Michelle Payne became the first female jockey to win the Melbourne Cup, Melham became the first to complete the Caulfield Cup and Melbourne Cup winning double.

Melham's late grandfather was among the people she dedicated her victory to, saying the last race he watched was her win in last month's Caulfield Cup on Half Yours.

“I have to mention my grandpa. He died last week," Melham said in a post-race interview with the Nine Network. "He was such a big supporter of mine. So he’s up there opening those gaps for me, because I needed a few gaps open.”

Half Yours, a five-year-old gelding, finished strongly to win by 2 3/4 lengths from Irish mare Goodie Two Shoes in overcast conditions on a soft track at Flemington. Middle Earth placed third in the event referred to widely by Australians as the race that stops the nation.

“I’ve had an amazing year. Got married, had some really great days on the track, but nothing ever compares to this feeling right now I’m feeling," the 29-year-old Melham said.

Trained by the father-and-son duo Tony and Calvin McEvoy, Half Yours was the only Australian-bred starter in the 24-horse field.

Melham had to steer Half Yours through a series of gaps in the straight, including one past her husband Ben Melham, who placed 14th on Smokin' Romans. They were the first married couple to compete against each other in Australia's richest race.

“There was a tight gap and I said, ‘Move over Ben, I’m coming through.' The next gap was extremely tight and I had no say — my horse just took me through it," Jamie Melham said. “Then he had to produce the finish.”

Payne, who rode long shot Prince Of Penzance to victory in the 2015 Melbourne Cup, embraced Melham after Tuesday's race.

“I’ve got tears in my eyes,” Payne told the Nine network. "It’s just the most incredible feeling and for Jamie, who deserves it, it just couldn’t be better.”

AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports

Spectators watch a race ahead of the Melbourne Cup horse race in Melbourne, Australia, Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)

Spectators walk ahead of the Melbourne Cup horse race in Melbourne, Australia, Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)

Trainer Calvin McEvoy and jockey Jamie Melham celebrate after Half Yours won the Melbourne Cup horse race in Melbourne, Australia, Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)

Jockey Jamie Melham reacts after riding Half Yours to win the Melbourne Cup horse race in Melbourne, Australia, Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)

Jamie Melham rides Half Yours to win the Melbourne Cup horse race in Melbourne, Australia, Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — High-scoring Michigan had to get down and dirty to dig out the national title Monday, making only two 3-pointers all night but still muscling its way to a 69-63 victory over stingy, stubborn UConn.

Elliot Cadeau led the Wolverines with 19 points, including the team’s first 3, which came 7:04 into the second half. The second, from freshman Trey McKenney, came with 1:50 left and felt like a dagger, giving the Wolverines a nine-point lead.

To no one’s surprise, UConn fought to the finish — Solo Ball banked in a 3 to cut it to four with 37 seconds left — and after two missed free throws, UConn’s Alex Karaban (17 points) barely grazed the rim on a 3 that would’ve cut the deficit to one with 17 seconds left.

Not until McKenney sank two free throws to bring Michigan’s shooting from the line to 25 for 28 for the night could the Wolverines (37-3) kick off the celebration for the program’s second title — the other coming in 1989.

But this game had a 1950s feel to it.

Michigan had to fight for everything. The Wolverines missed their first 11 shots from 3, finished 2 for 15 from there and won despite the struggles of their best player, Yaxel Lendeborg. Ailing with a hurt knee and foot that kept him from elevating, the graduate transfer from UAB finished with 13 points on 4-of-13 shooting.

Truth be told, it wasn’t anyone’s prettiest night.

UConn’s hopes at becoming the first team since John Wooden’s UCLA dynasty to win three titles in four seasons came up short, done in by massive foul trouble and its own terrible shooting.

Coach Dan Hurley’s team shot 30.9% from the floor and missed its first 11 shots from 3 in the second half.

Braylon Mullins, the hero of the Duke win that put UConn in the Final Four, finished 4 of 17, though he made a pair of late 3s that kept the game in reach.

UConn (35-5) covered the 6 1/2-point spread, and Hurley kept his players out on the court to watch the podium get set up for the presentation of a trophy heading not to Storrs, but Ann Arbor.

About the only consolation: The Huskies clogged things up, slowed things down and made Michigan beat them at their game.

The Wolverines came in as the first team to crack 90 points in five straight high-flying tournament blowouts. They didn’t hit 70 in this one but, in almost every way, it was the prettiest of them all — the one that gives them what even Michigan’s most famous teams, the Fab Five, couldn’t manage — namely, a natty.

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

Members of Michigan celebrate after defeating UConn in the NCAA college basketball tournament national championship game at the Final Four, Monday, April 6, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Michigan's Nimari Burnett (4) and Morez Johnson Jr. celebrate after defeating UConn in the NCAA college basketball tournament national championship game at the Final Four, Monday, April 6, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Michigan forward Yaxel Lendeborg walks to his bench during a time out during the second half of the NCAA college basketball tournament national championship game against UConn at the Final Four, Monday, April 6, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

UConn's Tarris Reed Jr. (5) grabs a rebound as Michigan's Elliot Cadeau (3) falls and UConn's Silas Demary Jr. (2) and Michigan's Morez Johnson Jr. (21) watch during the second half of the NCAA college basketball tournament national championship game at the Final Four, Monday, April 6, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

UConn head coach Dan Hurley reacts during the second half of the NCAA college basketball tournament national championship game against Michigan at the Final Four, Monday, April 6, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Michigan's Yaxel Lendeborg watches from the bench during the second half of the NCAA college basketball tournament national championship game against UConn at the Final Four, Monday, April 6, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Michigan's Trey McKenney, left, and Elliot Cadeau celebrate during the second half of the NCAA college basketball tournament national championship game against UConn at the Final Four, Monday, April 6, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

UConn guard Silas Demary Jr. celebrates after the second half of an NCAA college basketball tournament semifinal game against Illinois at the Final Four, Saturday, April 4, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Michigan's Aday Mara (15) reacts during the second half of an NCAA college basketball tournament semifinal game against Arizona at the Final Four, Saturday, April 4, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)