Cup jockey has surgery after fall
Melbourne Cup-winning jockey Michelle Payne will spend at least a week in hospital after undergoing surgery following a race fall.
Payne had successful surgery to her abdomen and is in a serious but stable condition at Melbourne’s The Alfred hospital, Victorian Jockeys Association chief executive officer Des O’Keeffe said yesterday.
It will take a number of weeks for her to recover from the surgery, which followed a fall in a race at Mildura on Monday.
O’Keeffe had spoken to Payne after her fall, and said there were mixed emotions for the 30-year-old.
‘‘She sounded pretty knocked around really – very quiet – and, I think, happy that her head, neck and her back, arms and legs are all good,’’ O’Keefe said.
‘‘But [she] was in a significant amount of pain from whatever she’s done into her abdomen where she was complaining of the most pain.’’
The Victorian Jockeys Association said initial scans appeared to be clear, but Payne tweeted that she would be
‘‘Thank you for all the well wishes. Off to the Alfred tonight to check out Pancreas and liver,’’ she tweeted.
Payne created history when she became the first woman to win the cup last November aboard Prince Of Penzance. tested further in Melbourne.
The horse returned to the racetrack for the first time since the cup on Saturday when he finished second in a race at Adelaide with Payne in the saddle.
She rode two winners for her trainer brother, Patrick Payne, at Mildura on Monday before her fall on another of his horses, Dutch Courage.