Melbourne Cup 2015: Fairytale win a victory for the true blue believers

WHERE do you start the story of the greatest Melbourne Cup? A race that could not have been more romantic if the winner was trained by Mills and ridden by Boon.

Melbourne Cup Day Races at Flemington Racecourse. November 3, 2015. Melbourne, Australia. MelbourneCup15 , Race 7. Melbourne Cup over 3200 metres. Winner no 19 Prince of Penzance ridden b Michelle Payne, 2nd no 8 Max Dynamite ridden by Frankie Dettori , 3rd no 2 Criterion ridden by Michael Walker Picture: George Salpigtidis

WHERE do you start the story of the greatest Melbourne Cup? A race that, in the era of oil rich Arab sheikhs and blue-blooded imports, could not have been more romantic if the winner was trained by Mills and ridden by Boon. One that stirred the embers of an Australian dream and fired our imaginations.

Do you start with Michelle Payne, the first woman to ride a Melbourne Cup winner? The youngest child in a family of 11 raised by their horse trainer father Paddy after his wife Mary’s death. And as much, in their chaotic, loving Ballarat household, raised by each other.

THE BLAST: PAYNE’S TELLS CRITICS TO GET STUFFED

THE CUP: WHERE YOUR HORSE FINISHED

PAYNE BELIEF: WIN SENDS STRONG MESSAGE

THE TRAINER: DREAM COMES TRUE FOR WEIR

THE CARNAGE: CASSIDY LUCKY TO SURVIVE CHAOS

Three of Michelle’s big sisters Brigid, Therese and Cathy, had known the thrill of riding winners. They had also suffered the prejudice of trainers and owners who would bump them out of the saddle after a losing ride when a male jockey would be excused his ‘’bad luck’’.

‘’It drove me crazy because I’m way more dedicated than a lot of those guys,’’ said Michelle Payne. And now she has the Melbourne Cup to prove it.

Brigid Payne died suddenly of a seizure, possibly related to a racetrack fall, eight years ago. So, sadly, we can only imagine the pride the oldest Payne sister would have felt for the baby sister she had held in her arms. The kid who grew up driven to be ‘’better than my sisters’’.

Do you start with Michelle’s brother Stevie, the winning strapper, who was born with Down syndrome and nurtured by his big-hearted families’ mixture of tender and tough love. Because as anyone who visited the Payne home in the grounds of Ballarat Racecourse soon found, Stevie was no more special than anyone in this rough and tumble family when it came to hard work.

As the youngest children Michelle and Steve share not only a Melbourne Cup, but a close bond. ‘’Stevie is more capable than most in the stable,’’ she said of her brother. ‘’He’s a hard worker, in our family you had to be.’’

The Payne celebrate on Tuesday night. From left, Andrew, Cathy, Cup winner Michelle, Stephen, Margaret, Bernadette, Patrick and Therese. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin

Yet Stevie’s greatest contribution to this incredible tale might have been his easiest task. Drawing the No. 1 barrier on Saturday and putting his sister and her mount in perfect position to achieve the victory she earnt by riding Prince Of Penzance so well in 21 of his 22 runs that twitchy owners could not replace her.

Do you start with Darren Weir, the ruddy-faced bush trainer who rode into the stables in the western Victorian town of Stawell on a horse as an 18 year-old after his car hit a kangaroo? ‘’There were two horses in the float and it was a long walk,’’ explained Weir of his unusual entry to the training game.

Weir is the larrikin who worked as a farrier during the day and trained in the evenings to make ends meet. Who took the back roads home from bush meetings to avoid the stewards who were awake to his ‘’irregular’’ practices. Yet who became a city champion with a sophisticated two-stable set-up in Ballarat and Warrnambool where horses thrive on sand.

The Melbourne Cup has had, for so many years, a foreign accent. Weir gave it back its bush drawl sending ‘’cheerios’’ to his many mates and insisting ‘’They better open the pub in Berriwillock (his home town in northern Victory) because there is going to be a party’’.

Do you begin With Prince of Penzance, at $101 the greatest Melbourne Cup long-shot since Old Rowley in 1940, who survived two joint operations and a life threatening twisted bowel just to get to the race?

‘’He’s such a courageous horse for what he’s been through,’’ said Weir of the stayer who was bought for just $50,000; an outsider who even Weir had ‘’hoped like hell’’ might give him a top 10 finish and a share of the $6 million prizemoney.

Instead, incredibly, a mob of country owners took the lions share. Although, as the Flemington mounting yard became a mosh pit, the money seemed somehow inconsequential. This was about an incredible dream come true. It was about family.

Trainer Darren Weir and Michelle Payne. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin

Sandy McGregor has a 25 per cent share of Prince Of Penzance. His father was president of the Stawell Race Club and gave Weir horses to train. Back when Weir’s dream was winning the Stawell Cup, then the Ballarat Cup, then the Swan Hill Cup (near Berriwillock). Those boxes had long been ticked. But with the relentless foreign invasion, the last had seemed a flight of fancy.

‘’I said to the owners ‘It’s hard enough to get into the race let alone win it, just enjoy the day,’’ said Weir, who trained second-placegetter She’s Archie in 2003. But expectations suddenly rose as Pirates of Penzance eased into the race. ‘’I didn’t want to go the early crow, but I thought he was trackin’ up beautiful ...’’

Then Pirates of Penzance burst clear and this preposterous tale of family and friends, bush bloodlines and artful country training and natural horsepersonship somehow had its incredible happy ending.

For the joyous connections this was a fairytale. For the rest of us this Melbourne Cup was even better. This was Australia’s great sporting dream renewed.

Originally published as Melbourne Cup 2015: Fairytale win a victory for the true blue believers