Michelle Payne would have been worthy Australian of the Year nomination, says Matt Stewart

THE fact The Australian chose Michelle Payne as it’s Australian of the Year not only dips its hat to her achievements but a reminder of racing’s great egalitarianism.

Jockey Michelle Payne wins the Myer Magic Millions Sprint on Husson Eagle at the Magic Millions racing carnival at the Gold Coast Turf Club on the Gold Coast, Saturday, Jan. 9, 2016. (AAP Image/Glenn Hunt) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY

FIRST reaction was a mix of shock and pride. Michelle Payne, Australian of the Year.

Turns out Payne’s tweet of thanks and appreciation on Saturday for being named Australian of the Year didn’t clarify she was The Australian newspaper’s Australian of the Year, not Australia’s Australian of the Year.

Payne, in fact, has not been short-listed for our most coveted gong. But it could easily be argued that she should have been.

Tragic and inspirational Australians of the Year such as Rosie Batty are a tough act to follow and rare; thankfully so given Batty’s story.

Often it’s a sporting hero who gets the gong. Mark Taylor was crowned in 1999, followed by another cricket captain, Steve Waugh, five years later. Pat Rafter won it in 2002.

All three had some reach beyond the sports field — Waugh gained his as “Australian cricket captain and humanitarian’’ – but they impressed and inspired mostly for their sports deeds.

There are parallels between Payne and 2014 AOTY Adam Goodes.

Goodes was a great footballer and proud Aborigine. He was unafraid to be political and courageous in challenging prejudice.

Payne challenged the notion of misogyny in a sport known as the sport of kings. In doing so, she made other women, and men, contemplate their own experiences.

Goodes kept playing, but Payne has risked the continuity of her career to act as an ambassador, albeit one with financial perks.

The fact The Australian chose Payne over what would have been an impressive field of candidates not only dips its hat to the layers of her achievement — from beating the boys to being revealed as the perfect sister to her special-needs brother — but is a reminder of racing’s great egalitarianism.

Payne said racing is a “chauvinist’’ sport, which may in part be true, but it’s is also a sport where women can compete against men on even terms and beat them.

It is a sport where a good female jockey or trainer can earn the same as the men if she’s good enough. Gai Waterhouse is queen in this sport of kings. Female jockeys win premierships.

The poor can occasionally beat the rich because money does not guarantee speed. It’s a running joke; buy the top-priced lot at any yearling sale and it will be a costly Clydesdale.

The less well-to-do can benefit from the high expectations of the rich.

Wales won at Moonee Valley on Saturday for a large syndicate of battlers. Wales was previously owned by Lloyd Williams, who paid a fortune for him when all the horse had was a blue-blood pedigree.

Williams sold the horse and Wales is now the pride and joy of a syndicate that lit up the winner’s enclosure on Saturday with screams and high-fives.

The young can beat the old and the old can compete with the young.

Bart Cummings was as competitive at 80 as he was at 40. The older he got, the better he trained.

A 27-year-old from Benalla called Bryan Maher won his second straight race at the Valley with Runsati on Saturday. Maher pre-trains and breaks-in for others and trains two of his own.

A race earlier, Holler won for global giant Godolphin.

Every week, race by race, racing’s broad spectrum is revealed and it was within this spectrum that Payne beat the boys in the greatest race of all, then went about challenging bigots and presenting a fresh face to a sport that desperately needed a makeover.

Yet no nomination for Australian of the Year. One can only assume stewards are investigating.

Originally published as Michelle Payne would have been worthy Australian of the Year nomination, says Matt Stewart