Rider reveals the key to her success

MELBOURNE Cup-winning jockey Michelle Payne is humbled to share her appointment as a Member of the Order of Australia with the racing industry.

Payne, 35, a champion for women, dreamers and racing, on and off the track, has been recognised for services to the sport.

“To be receiving an award for doing something I love and I’m passionate about is really special,” Payne said.

“It makes me really proud that, for anyone with a dream and anyone who wants to achieve something at the highest level, it is possible if you work really hard and try really hard.”

Payne, a winner of five Group 1 races, rose to national and international prominence in 2015 as the first female jockey to win the Melbourne Cup.

The second-youngest of 10 siblings, whose life story was immortalised in the movie Ride Like a Girl, prompted regulatory change in 2016, enabling jockeys to hold a trainer and jockey duallicence in Victoria.

Payne is also a patron of the National Jockeys Trust and Australian Jockeys Association and an ambassador for Racing Victoria and charitable children’s foundations Zaidees Rainbow and Reach For The Stars.

In 2016, Payne received the prestigious The Don Award, presented to the most inspirational Australian athlete.

“I’ve had a lot of surprises along the way, since winning the Melbourne Cup, with the first being the Melbourne Cup, which still surprises me,” Payne said.

“It’s still an amazing feeling to this day, an unbelievable and incredible journey which is obviously still going on six years later, it’s certainly a life changing race, that’s for sure.

“You can never underestimate trying really hard, I think that’s the reason why I was able to achieve the Melbourne Cup.