Payne happy to fly flag for girl power
Do not expect some long odds to put off the female sports star who followed a ground-breaking victory with one of the most memorable sporting podium speeches ever.
When Michelle Payne lines up on outsider Kaspersky in the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot tomorrow, she will attack the task ahead with the drive that enabled her to become the first female jockey to win the Melbourne Cup in 2015 on 100-1 shot Prince of Penzance.
Payne will also bring the passion that saw her post-race interview brand racing as ‘such a chauvinistic sport’ while telling those who believed female jockeys were inferior to their male counterparts to ‘get stuffed’. the comments went global.
Payne, 31, said: ‘I don’t regret saying what I said. I think it was warranted and a lot of other people do too. I wouldn’t say they made any difference in the racing industry but they made a big impact in Australia.
‘I had a lot of people come up to me and shake my hand and congratulate me for those comments. It was the perfect time to stand up for females in any industry because we had won the greatest race in Australia.
‘I just hope going forward it will open up more opportunities. there are so many female jockeys, especially in Australia, that just do not get an opportunity they deserve or what I had.
‘It’s very hard. Racing started out a male sport but slowly we are making progress.’
Unlike some of her female counterparts, including Britain’s top female Flat jockey Josephine Gordon, Payne is not opposed to this season’s introduction of a fourkilo weight allowance for female jockeys in France.
Initial figures shows the allowance has had a positive effect on the number of rides across the Channel for female jockeys and, although unable to claim her allowance in a toplevel race, Maryline Eon yesterday became the first female jockey to ride in the French oaks on unplaced outsider Yellow Storm. Payne said: ‘I have a slightly different view on it to a lot of the female riders. there is definitely something in it. ‘I don’t think bringing in a claim of more than one kilo is fair to the male riders but it may even up the mindsets of owners and trainers to actually put up female jockeys. It might even things up a bit.’ Payne suffered life-threatening injuries in a fall in May last year necessitating surgery on her pancreas which left her questioning her future in the sport. She now combines riding with training a small stable of horses and plans to retire as a jockey at the end of 2018. But Payne admits that date might be brought forward to the end of this year.
By then a movie of the life of Payne, one of 10 children raised by her father Paddy after mother Mary was killed in a traffic accident when Michelle was six months old, will have started filming.
It will tell the tale of the little girl who told friends when she was seven that she would win the Melbourne Cup, the serious injuries including a fractured skull, while the cast will include Payne’s Downs Syndrome brother Stevie, who was the groom who led her up on Prince of Penzance, playing himself. With a working title of Ride Like a
Girl, the movie is being directed by Golden Globe winner Rachel Griffiths.
A book about Payne’s exploits has already been written while she has also been the recipient of a Don Award — a prestigious prize named after legendary Aussie cricketer Sir Don Bradman and handed to individuals who are considered to have inspired a nation.
However, Kaspersky is unlikely to add to Payne’s roll of honour. His 15 rivals in the race tomorrow include hot favourite Ribchester, trained by Richard Fahey.
Kaspersky, winner of a Group two race in Germany last year when he was trained in Italy, has been bought by Aussie owners and will be racing in Australia this autumn.
Payne said: ‘He might be 66-1 but Kaspersky is in fantastic order and couldn’t be in better shape.
‘If we were to pass the line in front it would be another fairytale. the Melbourne Cup is our holy grail at home. that’s what we all dream of. But I never would have imagined having the opportunity to race at Royal Ascot.
‘the beauty of racing is that it throws up long shots all the time. You have to be positive.’