Ben Melham finished the Melbourne Spring Carnival on a high by saluting on The Taj Mahal in the group 2 $300,000 Zipping Classic at Sandown on Saturday.
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It was a spring of what might have been for the former Ballarat-based jockey, who narrowly missed out on landing the Melbourne Cup.
He had to settle for second on the Robert Hickmott-trained Johannes Vermeer behind stablemate Rekindling in the Cup.
Melham admitted he thought he had the race in his keeping when Rekindling hit the lead in the straight.
In the Zipping Classic though, Melham was on the right end of a stable quinella – finishing ahead of Almandin.
As well as landing the biggest race of the day, Melham also allowed Hickmott to end his time as a trainer for high profile owner Lloyd Williams on a winning note.
Hickmott trained for Williams for almost a decade, winning Melbourne Cups with Green Moon in 2012 and Almandin in 2016.
He is being replaced by Liam Howley.