First-time Melbourne Cup jockey Jamie Kah will feel the pressure until she gets on Prince Of Arran, says Katie Mallyon

Melbourne Cup jockey Jamie Kah will be feeling the nerves but she’ll have the best time once she sits on Prince Of Arran, says Herald Sun columnist Katie Mallyon.

Melbourne Cup jockey Jamie Kah and Prince Of Arran will attempt to create a little bit of their own history on Tuesday.

You replay it all in your head, the night before the Melbourne Cup, thinking about what could happen.

What if I missed the kick?

What if I run into the back of horses?

What if I get caught wide?

The whole night before the 2016 Melbourne Cup I was wondering every angle of what can happen and what I am going to do.

I had a million thoughts in my head and I suppose you do dream about winning it.

What if I got across and got outside the leader and I did no work?

What if at the 800m I was travelling and my horse kicked clear and there’s the roar of the crowd — which isn’t going to happen today — that is what was going through my head.

I’d expect Jamie Kah would be feeling the same.

This year may be different without crowds and less build-up but the race is still the Melbourne Cup.

Prince Of Arran and Jamie Kah before the Caulfield Cup.

Every jockey dreams about riding in the Cup, to experience the atmosphere and pressure of the race.

Jamie will be feeling the nerves but she is going to have the best time jumping on Prince Of Arran and going to the barriers.

I know as soon as I was on my horse I felt a sense of relief, I was so nervous leading up to it all, lots of emotions, excited and overwhelming and once I got on Assign it was like ‘Oh what a relief’.

Victoria Quay and Jamie Kah combine to win the Group 2 Wakeful Stakes.

I actually went to the races at 9am before anyone got there and had a sleep.

I handed my phone in and told the Clerk of the Scales to wake me up at this certain time.

I needed to relax, I guess, to get away from everything and I knew the jockeys’ room was a safe spot, no one could find you there.

Kah and Prince Of Arran at Werribee.

When I got up the media was already there, Channel 7 was interviewing me and I’d only just got up, I think it was the only bit of sleep I got to be honest.

Jamie is so composed, so calm, she doesn’t seem to get fazed by things.

I don’t know, maybe she’s very good at hiding it?

She’s going to get the most economical run on Prince Of Arran from barrier one.

But she will have a decision to make at the 800m-1000m: Do I work off the fence, or stay there and ride for luck?

It is either a winning decision or it is not.

Depending on if you’re travelling and I’d imagine Prince Of Arran would be, you start thinking about who I should be following to bring me into the straight.

If you’re following an Etah Jane or Oceanex you’re starting to think I probably should get off (the rail) but if you end up on the back of a Finche or Tiger Moth, you’d be like sweet as.

It couldn’t work out any better if you lobbed on the back of those, if not, then she’s going to have a big decision to make.

It is some sort of race this year too.

There’s a Sydney Cup winner, a Derby winner, an Oaks winner, a Caulfield Cup winner, a Cox Plate winner, the other internationals, like what a Cup!

Honestly, it would not shock me to see about 10 of them win it.

But Jamie is making all the right moves, at the moment, and it would be great if the stars aligned for her and Prince Of Arran.

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Originally published as First-time Melbourne Cup jockey Jamie Kah will feel the pressure until she gets on Prince Of Arran, says Katie Mallyon