Jockey Jamie Melham‘s nightmare trip turned out to be the perfect passage for Valiant King to win his way into the Melbourne Cup in a shock result to the Group 3 Bart Cummings.

Valiant King hadn’t won in his previous nine starts for first Joseph O’Brien then Chris Waller but picked the perfect time to break a winning drought stretching back to May 2023.

• PUNT LIKE A PRO: Become a Racenet iQ member and get expert tips – with fully transparent return on investment statistics – from Racenet’s team of professional punters at our Pro Tips section. SUBSCRIBE NOW!

Jockey Jye McNeil steered Valiant King to victory at $61 over the $71 chance Torranzino while Melham’s mount Gilded Water finished third as a $2.15 favourite.

Stewards queried Melham over the fact Gilded Water opened a big midrace lead on his rivals while setting fast sectionals in front.

Melham said Gilded Water overraced badly after she sent him forward from a wide barrier from where he could not obtain the cover he needed to settle.

“(It was) Horrible. He was completely out of control,” Melham told stewards 20 minutes after the race.

“I still can’t feel my arms.

“He’s very strong. But he’s much, much worse without any cover.”

VALIANT KING 😱

Well that was something! Valiant King is into another Melbourne Cup, running down the King’s horse Gilded Water who set up a massive lead in the run! pic.twitter.com/sgxtI9tztY

— 7HorseRacing 🐎 (@7horseracing) October 4, 2025

• McGaw fires in Danehill but Rosberg trainer ‘dumbfounded’

Despite Gilded Water’s racing manners, Melham said King Charles III’s stayer produced a “super performance” to hold third.

She added she told the Ciaron Maher stable to employ a Norton bit to help Gilded Water settle in his future races.

While Gilded Water needs to find another way to qualify, Valiant King earned a Melbourne Cup ballot exemption with his win in the $350,000 race.

Waller’s representative Charlie Duckworth said luck deserted the stable when Valiant King was primed to run a bold race in the Group 1 Sydney Cup in the autumn.

He said Valiant King’s owners bought the grey to win the Melbourne Cup last year but the gelding could improve on his midfield finish this time around.

“We were really unlucky to miss the Sydney Cup in the autumn when he had a minor foot issue leading into it and we just thought he was primed and ready to go,” Duckworth said.

“But hey, it will be much better to win a Melbourne Cup than a Sydney Cup.”