Paddy Payne revels in daughter Michelle Payne’s Melbourne Cup triumph
PADDY Payne says he always thought a woman would win the Melbourne Cup - he just didn’t think it would be his own daughter.
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PADDY Payne says he always thought a woman would win the Melbourne Cup — he just didn’t think it would be his own daughter.
Shunning the bright lights of Flemington, Mr Payne relaxed in his favourite armchair on Tuesday to watch the youngest of his 10 children, Michelle, become the first woman to win Australia’s richest horse race on 100-1 longshot Prince Of Penzance.
It was the crowning glory for the Payne family, which has been touched by heartache as well as triumph.
After losing his wife Rosa Mary in a car crash in 1986, Mr Payne and his family quickly pulled together to overcome adversity. Older sisters took on the role of surrogate mum to six-month-old baby Michelle.
Mr Payne, 79, has no doubt that his late wife would have been watching on proudly as she crossed the finish line first at Flemington.
“Her mum would have been very happy, she would have got a kick out of it, it was just an unreal thing,” he said.
“It was a huge blow losing my wife but we decided very quickly that we would give it our best shot.
“In-laws offered to take some of the kids but we wanted to keep the family together.
“So the older ones looked after the younger ones, it wasn’t that hard really.
“Michelle did do it hard sometimes as a youngster not having her mum around, but it all worked out well in the end.”
Mr Payne said young Michelle appeared destined for glory from an early age.
Aged 15, she won her first race in 2001 on a horse owned and trained by her father.
The windswept surrounds of the Dowling Forest Racecourse at Miners Rest near Ballarat — a drop punt from the family home — is a world away from the colour and glamour of Melbourne Cup day.
But just like on Tuesday at Flemington, a fresh-faced Michelle finished up on the winner’s podium.
Many of her Loreto College school friends from Ballarat lined the fence to cheer home the aptly named Reigning.
Mr Payne says he doesn’t recall what his youngest daughter’s prize money was in 2001, but says it was a long way from the $180,000 she earned on Tuesday.
“I think she might have won the 2001 race a bit easier,” he said.
“Like Tuesday it was a surprise result as it hadn’t won anything beforehand and it never won anything afterwards. The grin on her face was a delight to see.”
The eighth sibling in the family to embark on a career as a jockey, her proud father described his cup-winning daughter as “always very determined”.
“She’s worked very hard over the years to be fair and she’s ended up winning the bloody cup,” Mr Payne said.
“She always wanted to be a jockey from a very young age, always had that passion for horses. Her brother Patrick showed a lot of promise but she might have been the keenest of the girls though. She was the one that really wanted to do it.”
As most of the family travelled to Melbourne to watch Michelle’s shock win, her father stayed at home to watch the race in the modest surrounds of his sitting room.
“I switched on the television and I watched it on my own with a cup of tea and it was good,” he said.
“I always thought a woman would win the Melbourne Cup, I just didn’t think it would be my own daughter.
“I prefer to stay home these days, you can relax properly and you don’t have to get ready and put a tie on.
“She didn’t have a good start and she had to give it a dig to keep it going, which she didn’t want to.
“But she got a lovely run at the turn to get out of the crowd and then she was home, it looked an easy win.
“Then all these people started ringing. I ended up just ignoring the phone as I couldn’t hear what they were saying on the TV.”
After making Australian sporting history, Payne caused a stir by later telling her critics to “get stuffed”.
However, her father believes her comments may have been misinterpreted.
“She gets them (horses) going and then other riders ring for a ride so they look to put someone else on so I think that’s what she meant when she said ‘get stuffed’,” Mr Payne said.
“She didn’t like that, but Darren Weir has been very good to her.”
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