Epic race saga is a ‘cert’ to please
A VERY likeable Teresa Palmer gets this Australian horse racing drama over the line.
In an unusual pre-credit sequence, a narrator guides us through reams of home video and archive news footage.
“I just want to win the Melbourne Cup,” what looks like a 12-year-old Michelle Payne tells a reporter. Then we cut to a 30-year-old Payne (now played by Palmer) sitting on the 101/1 outsider Prince of Penzance in the traps in 2015, two miles before she became the first female jockey to win the race.
As that outcome is never in doubt, the film was never going to be a suspense-packed thrill ride.
But between the cheesy training montages and inspirational music, director Rachel Griffiths delivers a gritty and believable behind-thescenes drama.
But first we see Michelle growing up as one of 10 children with their stable-owning, widower dad Paddy
(Sam Neill). He is in many ways a gruff, macho Aussie, who doesn’t accept excuses and wants all his children to try to succeed.
Unusually, this applies to his daughters as well as his sons. But when his beloved Brigid dies after a fall on the race track, he stops speaking to Michelle when she heads to Melbourne to become a professional jockey. She isn’t exactly welcomed with open arms, spending hours waiting outside the owners’ meeting room only to watch the male jockeys take all the horses.
As it has always been a man’s world, this isn’t too surprising. Although one trainer’s line about Michelle giving him “a ride” before he lets her gets on one of his horses sounds a bit much even for an Aussie. When she finally gets her break, the supposedly tough male jockeys all bleat to the stewards whenever Michelle passes them on the track.
By the time we get to the big race we are desperate for her to rub their noses in it. But the most powerful scenes involve Michelle and her big-hearted brother Stevie, who has Down’s syndrome and plays himself.
Palmer is excellent, but somehow the non-actor steals the best lines and the most touching moments.