Nov 06, 2015 Michelle Payne recently emerged as the first female jockey to win the $4.44 million Melbourne Cup. She rode on Prince of Penzance to the famous victory in Australia’s richest and most prestigious race.
After being passed over at a yearling sale in New Zealand, Prince of Penzance was secured for $36,000 and brought to Australia to be prepared by local trainer Darren Weir.
The 6 year old castrated horse breezed to victory, despite being considered a rank outsider.
Speaking after the victory, Payne said:
“They have these magnificent, big, strong horses worth millions of dollars and ours was just a little cheapy from New Zealand and he beat them all, so it is a fairytale,”
Payne celebrated her victory at The Emerald Hotel with family and friends. Her brother and biggest fan, Steven Payne also became a celebrity in his own right.
Speaking about the race, he said:
“In the country, we were just two little kids and to think that we beat the rest of the world yesterday… We were just going into like a, top 10 chance thinking that we could probably run somewhere between 5th and 10th, which was a really good prize mate,”