MELBOURNE: Jamie Melham became only the second woman jockey to win the Aus$10 million ($6.5 million) Melbourne Cup Tuesday, steering Half Yours to victory in Australia’s “race that stops a nation.”

For the latest updates, follow us @ArabNewsSport

The five-year-old gelding pulled clear in the final stretch on a soft track to outpace Goodie Two Shoes and Middle Earth by 1.5 lengths in the energy-sapping 3,200-meter (two-mile) handicap at Flemington.

“Oh my God, this is what we do it for,” said Melham, who came third last year aboard Okita Soushi and won the Caulfield Cup on the all-Australian Half Yours in her last ride.

“This is why we get up out of bed every morning at 4 a.m., it’s tough, it’s not all glorious and perfect as everyone can see sometimes.