Melbourne Cup 2025: The six jockeys that loom large in the race that stops the nation

Who are the riders to look out for in Tuesday’s great race? Racing writer Hayden King casts his eye over the hoops who could make the biggest impact.

MARK ZAHRA

The WA-born hoop comes alive for this festival and is in the form of his life. Steered home four consecutive winners at the opening meeting of the carnival, bagging two Group 1s for good measure. That quartet of winners was a record-equalling feat for most successes commensurate with that day, meaning he hits Melbourne Cup Day on top of the world. Victories aboard Gold Trip and Without A Fight in the 2022 and 2023 editions of the race mean he’s already a legend of this race but a third would further his addition to folklore. This year, he unites with Irish trainer Joseph O’Brien, whose old man, Aidan, is regarded as one of the all-time greatest conditioners. Al Riffa is the undisputed class runner of the race and has earned his 59kg impost after succeeding in the Irish St Leger with 61.5kg. However, only three-time Cup winner Makybe Diva has lugged 58kg or more to salute in the last 35 years, meaning history is firmly against them. For some perspective, Vauban was last year’s topweight with 55.5kg, while winner Knight’s Choice carried only 51.5kg. In 1867, the winner, Banker, had only 33.57kg on his back, while 1890 victor Carbine bore 65.77kg. The most ever assigned to a Cup runner was Phar Lap in 1931, though the 68kg burden stopped even him.

ROBBIE DOLAN

Irish-born jockey who shot to national recognition in 2022 when appearing on The Voice, stunning racing fans with beautiful singing tones which sent him deep into the competition. However, his crowning glory came in this event 12 months ago when galvanising roughie Knight’s Choice to a famous win. Hours after the win, Irish eyes (and ears) were treated as he joined Ronan Keating on stage and serenaded the masses. Whilst Knight’s Choice is not present this year, Dolan will combine with another Irish-bred who now calls Australia home, Royal Supremacy. Expertly delivered by Dolan to land The Metropolitan a month ago, Royal Supremacy supplemented that with an encouraging fifth in the Caulfield Cup, two and a half lengths behind Half Yours. The pair have been dealt a blow by drawing wide in gate 21 but trainer Ciaron Maher is in form after landing the Victoria Derby on Saturday. Maher also knows what it takes to win this race having co-prepared Gold Trip in 2022.

JAMIE MELHAM

Forging a legacy as Jamie Kah before her marriage to Ben Melham – who will ride despised outsider Smokin’ Romans – earlier this year, the 29-year-old has banked stacks of Group 1s and has been named the leading female jockey in the world for multiple years. A real trailblazer for females in sport, Melham became the first jockey to ride 100 winners in a Melbourne metropolitan racing season in 2020-21, stopping the count at 105. However, her career was threatened in early 2023 when suffering a terrible fall and spent several days in an induced coma. Recovering from brain injuries and broken bones, she made a heroic return to the track, which reached a climax last month when she won the Caulfield Cup with Half Yours. The pair fared perfectly in Saturday’s barrier draw, receiving gate eight for Tuesday’s race and get in with 53kg, only 0.5kg more than the last start win. Half Yours, bought for $305,000 a year ago, has now earned almost $4 million and captured the imagination of racing fans given his unheralded sire St Jean, whose service fee has soared from $3,300 to $11,000 on the back of this son’s success.

DAMIAN LANE

Another of our local sons. Having been born and raised in Bunbury, the Lane surname has a familiar feel in form guides, with father Michael a successful trainer in WA. As a young man, ‘Frosty’ shifted east and hit the big time with a maiden Group 1 win aboard Trust In A Gust in the 2014 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes. Over the last decade, Lane has become particularly successful with stints in Japan, leading to steers and victories aboard Japanese horses Mer De Glace and Lys Gracieux in the Caulfield Cup and Cox Plate. However, the Melbourne Cup has so far eluded the 31-year-old, who takes the mount on another Japanese raider in Chevalier Rose this year. Gate five gives the couple a fighting chance and the eight-year-old stays the trip, evidenced by his win in last year’s 3600m Stayers’ Stakes. Since then, he hasn’t shown any meaningful form, which is a worry, but stark improvement wouldn’t shock.

JAMES MCDONALD

Frequently (and officially) named in conversations as the world’s best jockey, McDonald is the rider par excellence of the modern era in Australia. The 33-year-old has landed a ridiculous 121 Group 1 glories, including his first and only Melbourne Cup on Verry Elleegant in 2021. J-Mac has landed elite-level triumphs in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Japan and the United Arab Emirates. His record knows no equal, meaning he is usually primed for the pick of rides in these races. In 2025, he will take the reins aboard Meydaan, a UK raider who must rise to the challenge of 3200m. The son of Frankel brings strong English form, chasing home world-class gallopers Al Aasy and Giavellotto at his last two in the homeland before finishing eighth in the Caulfield Cup. McDonald will need all of his brilliance to get the gelding home from gate 22 but if there’s anyone that can do it, it’s him.

KERRIN MCEVOY

A Melbourne Cup great, McEvoy first lifted the trophy in 2000 when teaming up with Brew, who only qualified for the race three days earlier. The brother-in-law of both 2012 winning hoop Brett Prebble (Green Moon) and 2015 Cup-winning ground-breaker Michelle Payne (Prince Of Penzance), Kerrin saluted again in 2016 with Almandin and then two years later with Cross Counter. This year, he again unites with consistent Cup performer Absurde, who ran seventh in 2023 under Zac Purton before improving last year to be fifth and only a length and three-quarters away when McEvoy jumped on. Since then, Absurde returned back to the UK and didn’t miss a place there, recording a win, a second, and four thirds across Britain and Ireland. His three-length seventh in the Caulfield Cup had merit and gate four should allow him and McEvoy a comfortable transit. Willie Mullins is the top hurdling trainer in the northern hemisphere, so rule him out at a cost.