Over the past year, champion jockey Jamie Kah has overcome a life-threatening racing fall and a white powder scandal that threatened her career, giving herself a big chance to become only the second woman to ride to victory in the Melbourne Cup.
Kah, a nine-time Group 1 winner, will ride five-year-old import More Felons in Tuesday’s $8.4 million race.
The 27-year-old is keen to win her first Cup – and More Felons trainer Chris Waller says he is very happy to have ‘the best in the world’ riding his horse.
“We went to Flemington with (more thugs) on Thursday and Jamie felt the horse for the first time,” Waller said. Punts+.
‘It’s great to have Jamie’s services. She has a wonderful gift with horses, they relax so well for her and respond to her.
Jamie Kah looks set to become the second woman to win the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday
Kah is returning from a sickening fall in March that left her with a brain injury
‘Looking ahead to a two-mile (3200 metres) race, these are important factors when selecting a jockey for a horse.
‘It’s amazing what Jamie has achieved during her career and we’re looking forward to Tuesday’s race. What she has been through in the past twelve months is unbelievable. She is a real athlete, she is well prepared and she is a great thinker, a great horse person.
“I think we have one of the best in the world on Tuesday.”
If Kah can win on Tuesday, she will become only the second female jockey to win the Melbourne Cup after Michelle Payne.
It will also be all the more fun considering the horror year she has had, starting with a shocking fall at Flemington in March which left her with serious brain injuries.
When she came out of a five-day induced coma, Kah didn’t know who she was and had to Google her name to find some information about herself.
The injury kept her out of racing for five months, and she did not return to the saddle until August.
Kah was also charged with misconduct over a “white powder” controversy after photos appeared on social media in June appearing to show a line of a mystery substance.
The story broke just a day after she announced her return to racing.
Trainer Chris Waller labeled Kah ‘the best in the world’ as she prepares to pilot his horse More Felons to victory in the country’s biggest race
The champion jockey was embroiled in a white powder scandal this year after photos apparently showed her collecting lines of a mystery substance
The footage (pictured) emerged just a day after Kah announced her return to the saddle – and resulted in a complaint against her by race stewards
Tuesday’s race will be the nine-time Group 1 winner’s third attempt at winning the Melbourne Cup (pictured with legendary Australian jockey Damien Oliver at Flemington last year)
The emergence of the controversial images cast a shadow over Kah’s long-awaited return to horse racing.
Stewards accused her and another woman of the photos, claiming they had broken the rule which states that ‘a person shall not engage in conduct prejudicial to the image, interests, integrity or welfare of racing, regardless whether that behavior takes place within a racecourse or not. elsewhere’.
“I’m working hard to get back to doing what I love, which is being a passionate and successful jockey,” Kah said afterwards.
“I will continue to focus on my physical and mental health and make a full recovery so I can get back to racing and be the best person I can be.”
Kah hasn’t yet found the incredible form she had before her horror fall, but there are plenty who think she’s capable of doing so, including Payne.
“Of course it’s very difficult to come back from an injury like that, but I think she won’t panic and she can’t,” said the 2015 Cup winner.
“She’s not going to be the horse caliber she was, but I think she’s still riding as good as ever.
“If I had a horse good enough to ride, I wouldn’t hesitate to put her on it. It’s a game where you need luck to go your way and I always say it’s a big circle that keeps coming back.
‘People with talent are doing great now, and then they will be fine again and they will fly again. She has done a remarkable job coming back from her injury as she did and she will bounce back.”