Jockey Kathy O'Hara says there is no horse she would rather ride in her first Melbourne Cup than Single Gaze.
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The pair will jump from barrier 11 at Flemington on Tuesday, just outside of O'Hara's hopes for the inside 10, backing up a gutsy forward run in the Caulfield Cup where the Canberra mare was second to Boom Time.
O'Hara, who was an apprentice under Peter Nestor at Dubbo early in her career, has ridden the Nick Olive trained five-year-old for 23 of her 27 starts but has never ridden in the race that stops a nation before.
Together, she and Single Gaze, have reached great highs including wins in the 2016 Group One Vinery Stud Stakes and this year's Group Two P J O'Shea Stakes, to lows such as a terrible fall in the Australian Oaks.
"There will be no tougher horse than her racing in the race so I'm happy to be on board," O'Hara told AAP.
"She's come from many humble beginnings and she's just come so far in her career. For her to come back after a really nasty fall, it just says volumes about her temperament, her will to win and her toughness."
The leading jockey has also shown plenty of toughness and said in the past it was her time in Dubbo which helped set the foundation for her success.
“When I went to Sydney I had to refine a few things but the basics were all there and Dubbo gave me the solid foundation,” she told the Daily Liberal last year.
O’Hara had her first metro winner on a Dubbo horse when she piloted King Rex, trained by the late Tom Mulholland, to victory but has recorded many since then as she has been based in the city for more than 10 years.
O'Hara has been told exactly how to approach Tuesday’s premier staying race at Flemington by dual Melbourne Cup and Caulfield Cup-winning jockey Jim Cassidy.
She said the 3200 metres would be a different scenario for the pint-sized mare following her Caulfield assault.
"Not leading necessarily but I will sort of try and give her as easy a run as I possibly can. Ideally, we'd be four pairs back somewhere, one off, that would be the ideal scenario," O'Hara said.
"I've got a long time to get her into a rhythm, and just getting into a rhythm is the most important thing, so I don't really mind where she is necessarily but just as long as she's happy."
O'Hara the only woman riding in this year's Cup, rode a treble at Rosehill on Saturday.