| Michelle Payne OAM | |
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 Michelle Payne on Yosei, upon winning the 2010 Thousand Guineas at Caulfield | |
| Occupation | Trainer |
| Born | 29 September 1985 |
| Weight | 50.5 kg (7.95 st; 111 lb) |
| Career wins | 779 |
| Major racing wins | |
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| Racing awards | |
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| Website | |
| www | |
Michelle J. Payne OAM (born 29 September 1985) [3] is a retired Australian jockey. She won the 2015 Melbourne Cup, riding Prince of Penzance, and is the first and only female jockey to win the event.
The youngest child of ten of Paddy and Mary Payne, Payne grew up on a farm at Miners Rest, a locality near Ballarat in central Victoria, Australia. [4] Her mother Mary died in a motor vehicle crash when Payne was six months old, leaving her father Paddy to raise their ten children as a single father. [4] Payne dreamt of being a winning jockey as a child, and, at the age of seven she told her friends that she would one day win the Melbourne Cup. [5] She attended Our Lady Help of Christians primary school and Loreto College, Ballarat, [6] and entered racing aged 15, the eighth of the Payne children to do so. [4] She has Irish New Zealand heritage.
She won in her first race at Ballarat, aboard Reigning—a horse trained by her father. [7] In March 2004, Payne fell heavily at a race in Sandown Racecourse in Melbourne, fracturing her skull and bruising her brain. As a result of her prolonged recovery period—including a further fall where she fractured her wrist—Payne was granted a three-month extension to her apprenticeship to allow her time to ride out her claim. [8]
Payne won her first Group One race, the Toorak Handicap at Caulfield Racecourse aboard Allez Wonder on 10 October 2009, and trainer Bart Cummings offered her the ride at the Caulfield Cup the following week. Payne was the third female jockey to ride in the Caulfield Cup. [9] As a first-timer in the 2009 Melbourne Cup, she rode Cummings' Allez Wonder [10] with a riding weight of 50.5 kg. The horse was placed 16th in the field of 23. In 2010 Payne rode Yosei to victory in the Thousand Guineas at Caulfield. [11]
In 2015, she gained national attention when she rode the winning horse in two races at Melbourne Cup carnival at the Flemington Racecourse. One of them was the Hilton Hotels Stakes and the other was the Melbourne Cup itself. [12] [13] Payne said she was "floating on the cloud and it's a nice feeling". [12]
Payne won the Melbourne Cup on 3 November 2015, riding Prince of Penzance, a six-year-old gelding with which she had a long-term association. [14] [15]
The training strategy used in the lead-up to the race included a focus on galloping, and a consistent horse-jockey relationship. [14] "...'you know what?' Payne asked. "It's not all about strength, there is so much more involved, getting the horse to try for you, it's being patient." [16]
"Just want to say to everyone else, can get stuffed, because they think women aren’t strong enough but we just beat the world"
—Michelle Payne (after her win in the Melbourne Cup) [17]
Payne was the first woman to win the Melbourne Cup in its 155-year history. She was also the fourth woman to ride in the race and was coincidentally wearing the colours of the suffragette movement: purple, green and white. [18] In an interview shortly after her Melbourne Cup win, Payne said that horse racing is a "chauvinistic sport". [19] Her short speech about the capability of women in sport was described as "unambiguous and galvanising". [20] She later stated that she hopes her win "helps female jockeys". [14]
The victory was a surprise for bookmakers and speechmakers. The horse, bought for $50,000 (a figure described by sportswriters as "pocket change" for horseflesh) was a long odds chance at 100–1, [21] [22] and afterwards Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove and other speechmakers were criticised for failing to adapt their pre-prepared congratulations to acknowledge the historic nature of the win. [23] [24]
In May 2016, Payne suffered severe abdominal injuries in a race fall at Mildura. [25] She underwent urgent surgery for a torn pancreas, with surgeons saving the organ, otherwise she would have become a diabetic. [26] She returned to racing in September 2016, though noted that her future goals included a move from being a jockey to becoming a trainer. [27]
In October 2016, she was awarded the Don Award at the Sport Australia Hall of Fame awards. The Don Award is "awarded to a sportsperson who, through their achievements and example over the last 12 months, is considered to have most inspired the nation". [28]
In May 2017, Payne received international recognition when awarded the Longines Ladies Award in Washington U.S. The award paid tribute to "distinguished women whose careers have shown a positive influence and exceptional commitment to the equine cause" [29]
On 23 June 2017, Payne was stood down from racing after she had tested positive for the drug phentermine, an appetite suppressant banned under Australian Rule of Racing 81B. The traces were found in Payne's urine from a test taken on 11 June 2017, at the Swan Hill Cup meeting. Payne faced an inquiry by Racing Victoria stewards on 29 June 2017. [30] [31] Payne pleaded guilty to taking the appetite suppressant phentermine and was banned for four weeks until 21 July 2017. Payne said after the investigation "The onus is 100 per cent with me … I regret not seeking more guidance, I wasn’t thorough, and that is completely my fault. My sincere apologies to everyone." [32]
Payne also speaks at conferences around Australia and internationally. [33]
Payne was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in the 2021 Australia Day Honours. [34]
In 2019, Michelle Payne's victory was made into a feature film, Ride Like a Girl , with Teresa Palmer in the role of Payne.
The Melbourne Cup is an annual Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia, at the Flemington Racecourse. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and older, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club that forms part of the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival. It is the richest two-mile handicap in the world and one of the richest turf races. The event starts at 3:00 pm on the first Tuesday of November and is known locally as "the race that stops the nation".
A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual who rode horses in racing. They must be light, typically around a weight of 100–120 lb., and physically fit. They are typically self-employed, and are paid a small fee from the horse trainer and a percentage of the horse's winnings. The job has a very high risk of debilitating or life-threatening injuries.
Makybe Diva is a champion Australian Thoroughbred racehorse who is the only horse to win three Melbourne Cups and the only mare to win it more than once. She achieved the feat in 2003, 2004, and 2005. She also won the 2005 Cox Plate. She was the highest stakes-earner in Australian history, winning more than A$14 million.
Damien Oliver is an Australian retired thoroughbred racing jockey. Oliver comes from a racing family; his father Ray Oliver had a successful career until his death in a race fall during the 1975 Kalgoorlie Cup in Western Australia. In 2008, Oliver was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame. In August 2023 he announced that he would retire at the end of that year's spring carnival.
James Bartholomew Cummings, also known by his initials J. B. Cummings, was one of the most successful Australian racehorse trainers. He was known as the Cups King, referring to the Melbourne Cup, as he won 'the race that stops a nation' a record twelve times. During his lifetime, Cummings was considered an Australian cultural icon and an Australian National Living Treasure. His status as a racing icon in the 20th century was generally considered equivalent to that of Etienne L. de Mestre in the 19th century.
Gabriel Marie "Gai" Waterhouse is an Australian horse trainer and businesswoman. The daughter of Tommy J. Smith, a leading trainer of Thoroughbred racehorses, Waterhouse was born and raised in Sydney. After graduating from the University of New South Wales, she worked as an actor for a time, appearing in both Australian and English television series. Having worked under her father for a period of 15 years, Waterhouse was granted an Australian Jockey Club (AJC) licence in 1992, and trained her first Group One (G1) winner later that year.
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Brett Prebble is an Australian jockey, currently based in Melbourne, Victoria. Having ridden over 1200 career winners, Prebble's most famous win came aboard Green Moon in the 2012 Emirates Melbourne Cup.
The 2015 Emirates Melbourne Cup was the 155th running of the Melbourne Cup, a prestigious Australian Thoroughbred horse race. The race, run over 3,200 metres (1.988 mi), was held on 3 November 2015 at Melbourne's Flemington Racecourse. The date is a public holiday in the state of Victoria. The final field for the race was declared on 31 October. The total prize money for the race was A$6.2 million, the same as the previous year.
Prince of Penzance is a New Zealand-bred Thoroughbred race horse who won the 2015 Melbourne Cup. He was trained by Darren Weir. In the race, he was ridden by Michelle Payne, who became the first female jockey to win the race.
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