Air Assault wins again on Cup Day
Premiership-leading jockey Jason Holder produced another masterclass in the saddle, guiding Air Assault to a dominant six-length victory in Tuesday’s Listed John Letts Cup at Morphettville — successfully defending their title in the $120,000 feature on Melbourne Cup Day.
The classy gelding, trained by Andrew Gluyas, jumped quickly to take up the running before Sir Kingsford briefly hit the front in the 1800-metre contest. But Holder’s cool ride saw Air Assault regain control in the straight and surge clear for a commanding win.
The victory marked seven stakes wins for Air Assault and continued his outstanding partnership with Holder — the duo has now celebrated nine career victories together, including the Gawler Cup success on October 24.
Last year’s John Letts Cup heroics were no fluke, and the five-year-old has now amassed nearly $900,000 in prizemoney from 32 starts, underlining his consistency at the top level.
The Morphettville crowd cheered as one South Australian jockey Jamie Melham rode Half Yours to Melbourne Cup glory at Flemington.
It was a state trifecta for SA with Melham on board for trainers Tony McEvoy and Calvin McEvoy and part-owner Darren Thomas.
Trainer John Macmillian, who gave Melham her start as a jockey as an apprentice after she started as a stablehand for him at age 13, watched on with pride from the Morphettville mounting yard.
Melham nearly tasted success earlier in the day for Gluyas with Arugamama running fourth in the Australian Heritage Cup over 2800m.
