Jamie Kah and Ben Melham engaged as big announcement delights horse racing world

Jamie Kah and Ben Melham have announced their engagement on social media, sparking a flood of congratulatory messages from around the horse racing world. The jockeys revealed the wonderful news on Wednesday night, sharing a number of photos of the engagement ring.

"BEST day," Kah wrote after Melham popped the question on Valentine's Day. "Through everything you’ve been by my side from the very start, here’s to forever and always Ben Melham."

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Kah and Melham have endured a tumultuous 12 months, with Kah only returning to racing late last year following a nasty fall at the start of 2023. Kah and Craig Williams - two of Australia's leading jockeys - were thrown from their horses during a race at Flemington in April.

Kah and Williams were both sent to hospital after Kah's horse Flyball clipped the heels of eventual winner Veight, sending her spearing into the turf. Kah had to be heavily sedated after she was knocked unconscious, but thankfully didn't suffer any significant brain injuries or skull fractures.

“My friends and family and partner Ben have been amazing, but I think my number one support was my horses at home,” Kah said last week about her ordeal. “Number one was the horses in getting through a rough period.”

Melham shares three children with ex-wife Karlie Dales, with whom he was together for 15 years. Kah was previously engaged to fellow jockey and trainer Clayton Douglas.

Jamie Kah's meteoric rise in Aussie horse racing

The 28-year-old Kah has shot to prominence in recent years and has had multiple rides in the Melbourne Cup. However she had struggled for form over the last few months in a difficult return to the sport following her fall.

She didn't race for five months after the accident, but scored a brilliant double-victory at the Victoria Derby at the start of the Melbourne Cup carnival in November. She was chosen to ride More Felons in the Melbourne Cup and managed to finish 12th, ending up with six victories during the entire carnival - more than double any other jockey.

“She's as good a jockey as I've ever seen,” trainer Mick Kent said late last year. “Was great to have Jamie on as she rode her last week and was full of confidence this week as she wanted to ride her again. She’s a beautiful horsewoman and is very relaxed, it’s the first winner she’s ridden for me so I’m really pleased that I’ve finally got one with her.”

Speaking at the start of the Melbourne Cup carnival, former Melbourne Cup winner Michelle Payne predicted it was only a matter of time before Kah returned to form. “I think she’s just going through the motions of whatever she’s getting, the rides she’s getting (and) doing her best," said the 2015 Melbourne Cup winner. “Obviously it’s very hard coming back from an injury like that but I think that she’s not panicking and you can’t.

“She’s not getting the calibre of horses that she was, but I think she’s still riding as good as ever. People that have ability are going great now and then it’ll come around and she’ll be flying again. She’s done a remarkable job to come back from her injury like she did and she’ll get back there.”

Kah's career has also been plagued by controversy. She was suspended and missed the Melbourne Cup in 2021 for attending a house party during lockdown in Victoria.

And in December she was cleared by the Racing Victoria tribunal of conduct prejudicial to the image of the sport after a drawn-out process relating to a white powder controversy. Photos emerged in June of her appearing to rake a white powder into lines during a gathering at her house, but the tribunal found her not guilty because she didn't know she was being recorded or that the images were being circulated on social media without her consent.

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