Superstitious star Jamie Kah won’t touch Melbourne Cup ahead of great race
Superstitious star jockey Jamie Kah refuses to touch the gold Melbourne Cup trophy pre-race and is confident her luck will be sky high when riding Okita Soushi in Tuesday’s race that stops a nation.
Kah, 28, is an official Flemington ambassador and it’s been difficult for her to avoid handling the $750,000 cup winner’s prize booty when travelling interstate on spring carnival promotion tours.
But thanks to WA-born former champion hoop Damien Oliver’s decree, she has firmly declined to lay a hand on the trophy in photo sessions this year.
“Ollie told me, never touch the Melbourne Cup trophy until you have won it,” Kah said on Sunday. “He’s certainly one who knows, after winning it three times.
“I am really superstitious, always arranging my riding gear in a set pattern when arriving at women jockey’s rooms. I place a cap over my helmet in exactly the same style each time before mounting race rides and I also copy how I attach the cap’s band.”
Kah will take her fourth Melbourne Cup mount on Tuesday, after finishing third aboard Prince Of Arran in 2020, seventh on Smokin’ Romans (2022) and 12th with More Felons last year.
The Victorian premiership winner will be one of a record four women jockeys riding in Tuesday’s cup.
Hollie Doyle has the mount on Sea King, while Rachel King will be aboard The Map and Winona Costin is piloting Positivity.
“It’s actually 15 months since Damien instructed me not to touch the cup trophy before winning it,” Kah said. “I did not heed him at the time and last year went on holding the trophy when addressing guests at promotional functions and being in photos.
“In last year’s cup, I secured all the good runs on More Felons and he loomed as a winning chance near the home turn. But he did not fire on straightening and I quickly remembered Damien’s words to me.
“In recent months, I have travelled with the cup to Victoria and South Australia. Public reaction to the cup trophy has been astoundingly high, and quite overwhelming at times. But I have remained vigilant not to touch it. Let’s hope Ollie’s advise pays off on Tuesday.”
Kah had one stroke of good fortune, when a horse threw back its head at Flemington on Saturday and hit the jockey’s face. A nose injury was sustained by Kah, but she avoided concussion, which would have ruled her out of the cup.
The glamour hoop is sure Okita Soushi is capable of being right in the cup finish on ability, and her superstitious measures could be a bonus in the home straight.
“Okita Soushi won the Moonee Valley Cup in great style last start, Kah said. “He is trained by Ciaron Maher, a Melbourne Cup winner with Gold Trip.
“I am sure Okita Soushi, an absolute gentleman, has the attributes to be a cup winner. He is calm and relaxed, so the big crowd’s thunderous pre-race celebrations won’t worry him.
“He begins fast to take up a good position, and then settles easily. It’s precisely what you need in the cup. Hard-pulling horses ruin their chances ahead of the gruelling home straight.
Camera IconJamie Kah after a win. Credit: Vince Caligiuri/Getty Images
“Ollie’s superstitious advice will be instantly recalled if I win on Okita Soushi.”
In addition the cup’s quartet of female jockeys, six starters have women involved with their training.
The co-trainers are Gai Waterhouse (Just Fine), Shelia Laxon (Knight’s Choice), Deborah Rogerson (Sharp ‘N’ Smart), Oopy MacGillivray (The Map), Annabel Neasham (Fancy Man) and Natalie Young (Mostly Cloudy).
Waterhouse and Laxon were training solo when they won Melbourne Cups with Fiorente and Ethereal, respectively.
“I expect Just Fine to improve from unplaced Caulfield and Moonee Valley runs at his past two starts,” Waterhouse said on Sunday. “He’ll like the bigger track at Flemington.”
Laxon, who also trained Ethereal to win a Caulfield Cup, said she was only “hoping for the best” with Knight’s Choice.
“It’s great women are now equal in racing,” Laxon said. “I was barred from entering the mounting yard when strapping 1988 Melborune Cup winner Empire Rose.”
Meanwhile, trainer James Cummings is following his legendary grandfather the late Bart Cummings’ formula in preparing Zardozi for Tuesday’s big race.
Bart Cummings trained a record 12 Melbourne Cup winners, and 11 of them ran on the Saturday before the cup.
Camera IconTrainer James Cummings is seen during the 2024 Melbourne Cup Carnival Launch. Credit: Vince Caligiuri/Getty Images
James Cummings, 36, adopted Bart’s Blueprint by starting Zardozi in Saturday’s Empire Rose Stakes (1600m) at Flemington and she ran a fast-finishing fifth.
“Zardozi went to the line ideally and pulled up perfectly,” James Cummings said on Sunday. “That run will ensure her fitness for the cup. I worked with my grandfather for years and his methods had a big impact on me.”
Saintly, who went straight from a Cox Plate victory to his big Flemington triumph 1 1/2 weeks later, was the only one of Bart’s cup heroes not to have had a “pipe-opener” race three days earlier.
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