A monumental victory aboard Half Yours saw Jamie Melham etch her name into racing folklore as only the second female jockey to win the Lexus Melbourne Cup in 165 years.

The emotional triumph was attributed to her late grandfather, who, just last week, had watched her Caulfield Cup success before he died.

Melham will not be attending his funeral on Thursday. Her pa had insisted he would rather she compete and win at Flemington's Oaks Day meeting instead.

Speaking to Nine's Today, Melham said she believed her deceased loved ones, including her pa, helped create the small gap she needed for Half Yours to surge through and take the Cup.

"It opened a little bit of a gap for me for sure," she said of her late grandfather.

"He would have loved to drink from this [trophy] as well. It was am

See Full Page