The Melbourne Cup 2025 is in the books and Half Yours is the winner.
Half Yours made a late charge to take the lead from Land Legend, holding on to nab the win.
Goodie Two Shoes finished the Melbourne Cup in second and Middle Earth took third place.
The rest of the top 10 in the Melbourne Cup included River of Stars in fourth followed by Torranzino in fifth, Royal Supermacy in sixth, Al Riffa in seventh, Absurde in eighth, Changingoftheguard in ninth and Meydaan in tenth.
After building up a big lead through the early part of the race, Land Legend fell out of the top 10.
The full payouts (via The Sporting News) were:
1st: Half Yours – $8.60/$2.90
2nd: Goodie Two Shoes – $9.20 place
3rd: Middle Earth – $8.30 place
Trifecta: 14-20-7 $10,041
First four: 14-20-7-21 $176,561
The “race that stops a nation” came after a slight rain in Melbourne cleared up to make for good conditions for the 24-horse field. The race saw a bit of drama before it began, with a late change in the favorite.
Full results and payouts will be added once they are made official.
Historic Win for Jockey Jamie Melham
As Fox Sports noted, jockey Jamie Melham made some history while guiding Half Yours to the win.
“Jamie Melham has become the second female jockey to win the great race, on the 10-yr anniversary of Michelle Payne’s historic win,” the report noted.
An emotional Melham took in the moment after the race, thanking her parents and putting her big year into perspective.
“This is what we do it for, this is what gets us out of bed every morning,” Melham said. “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 that I’m feeling.”
Payne shared praise for Melham, saying the jockey is opening up the sport for young girls.
“She has been a revelation for racing,” Payne said, via Fox Sports. “We have so many young girls coming into our industry and to see her win the Caulfield and Melbourne Cup double, is just so fitting. She is such a hard worker.
“I am so excited for her.”
Late Odds Change on Melbourne Cup Day
As Fox Sports noted, Half Yours had been the favorite to win the Melbourne Cup until race day arrived and a horse took over.
“The race has a new favorite on Cup day with big money coming for Irish import Al Riffa,” the report noted. “Caufield Cup winner Half Yours had held favoritism since the field was confirmed but Al Riffa — one of Europe’s elite stayers who is trained by Joseph O’Brien — took over as slight favorite early on Cup day.”
As ESPN’s Darren Arthur noted, Al Riffa came into the race surrounded by question marks.
“This raider has been in good form in Ireland, but saddles up for the Cup untested in Australian conditions,” Arthur wrote in his pre-race predictions. “Expertly trained, with form jockey Mark Zahra aboard it is expected to be one of the chances, but I’ve seen this movie before.”
Melbourne Cup 2025 Results and Payouts After Half Yours Win