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'Honey, I'm so proud of you' were the best words Jamie Melham heard following her historic Melbourne Cup win on Tuesday.
Despite being showered in praise across Australia after completing the Caulfield/Melbourne Cup double on Half Yours, Melham revealed that it was her husband Ben whose words touched her the most.
'He is extremely, extremely happy for me. And you know what the most amazing thing was this morning? Just rolling over and he said, "Honey, I'm so proud of you". That was the best bit,' Melham told The Kyle & Jackie O Show on Wednesday morning.
Sandilands didn't seem to realise that Melham's husband was also a jockey, but he asked her if she 'flogged him yesterday'.
'Yes, absolutely,' Melham replied before being asked by Jackie where Ben finished in the race.
'Uh, wouldn't have a clue. Back somewhere, yeah,' she said.
Ben and Jamie Melham became the first married couple to ride in a Melbourne Cup together
Melham celebrates as she wins the Melbourne Cup on Half Yours on Tuesday
Melham was asked by fellow host Cooper Johns if she realised she was overtaking her husband, who rode Smokin' Romans, in the home straight.
'Yes, I did,' she said.
'I didn't have any time (to say anything). I was going by so fast.'
Jamie coincidentally rode Smokin' Romans in the 2022 Melbourne Cup.
Sandilands then asked her if she loved the horse she rode to victory, Half Yours.
'Oh, absolutely. I did before, and I definitely do even more now,' she said.
Melham was then asked what the conversation was like on the way home with her husband.
'"Oh my God, did you just do that?" Yeah, that was it. Nothing really was going through my brain riding yesterday,' she said.
The pair are one of Australian racing's most famous couples
In January 2025, Jamie married fellow jockey Ben Melham
Melham and cup winner Half Yours show off the trophy on Wednesday
Melham revealed before winning the Cup on Tuesday that the couple had made a pact.
'Now we're married, half (prizemoney) goes to him and half goes to me,' she said.
'Getting married, I said to Ben, was "the best day of my life",' Melham said.
'I've always wanted to make him proud and make my family proud.'
The Melhams were the first married riders to compete in a Melbourne Cup.
The cup win gave Melham her 19th success at Group One level and she now sits just three behind her husband's tally of 22.
Melham has ridden the highs and lows of racing like no other jockey of late, both on and off the track.
The young South Australian left school at 15, and began an apprenticeship.
The pair have ridden a combined 41 Group One winners
Before they were married Ben Melham and Jamie Kah attended The Festival of Racing Launch at Port Melbourne Yacht Club together
She quickly made a name for herself after winning the Adelaide Jockey's Premiership three times before moving to Melbourne and by 2021 she became the first jockey to ride 100 winners in a Melbourne Premiership season.
But while on top and riding high, Covid restrictions got her into trouble.
She, along with three other jockeys - Ben Melham, Ethan Brown and Celine Gaudray – broke Victoria's restrictions.
She was banned for five months by the Victorian Racing Tribunal.
Then in 2023 she got caught up in a leaked video scandal which featured white powder on a kitchen table.
She was not charged for bringing the sport into disrepute because she did not know she was being filmed, but it was publicity Melham didn't need.
In 2023 she was involved in a serious race fall and was placed in an induced coma for five days after suffering bleeding to the brain.
But she's overcome all that to get back to the top and claim Australian racing's most famous and prestigious prize.
Talking about her husband, Jamie said before the Melbourne Cup was run: 'It's very special that we get to do this together. I told him he can run a nice second but I'm winning the race, not him.'
