Michelle Payne has abdominal surgery after horror fall at Mildura on Monday

MELBOURNE Cup winning jockey Michelle Payne is in a serious but stable condition after pancreatic surgery at The Alfred hospital on Tuesday.

Michelle Payne aboard Prince of Penzance. Picture: Dylan Coker

MICHELLE Payne was in a serious but stable condition after pancreatic surgery at The Alfred hospital on Tuesday.

Payne will not ride for weeks after suffering internal injuries when she was dislodged from her brother Patrick’s horse Dutch courage at Mildura races on Monday.

It’s thought the horse, which apparently clipped the heels of another runner, trod on her after she fell.

Thank you for all the well wishes. Off to the Alfred tonight to check out Pancreas and liver. Through the vest 🤔 pic.twitter.com/WyMv3bvFIL

— Michelle Payne (@mj_payne) May 23, 2016

The 30-year-old was flown to The Alfred from the Mildura Base Hospital about midnight on Monday to undergo further scans which revealed the internal injury.

She tweeted before leaving Mildura hospital that she was off to the Alfred to check out her “pancreas and liver.”

On Tuesday she was heavily sedated following the surgery.

Patrick said he understood the pancreas required some stitches following the surgery.

“Mildura did an excellent job to send her on to Melbourne,” Patrick said. “You can imagine a horse’s weight at that speed. I would say the horse stood on her.”

Patrick said it was up to Michelle, the first female to ride a Melbourne Cup winner, to make a call on her career.

“It’s not up to me to say whether she should or shouldn’t,” Patrick said.

Michelle Payne is expected to miss several weeks. Picture: Dylan Coker

Payne, who is expected to spend at least a week in hospital, rode Prince of Penzance to a narrow second in the RA Lee Stakes at Morphettville last Saturday in the gelding’s first run since the pair teamed to win last year’s Melbourne Cup.

Doctors yesterday briefed members of Payne’s family, including her sister and former jockey Therese Patton, about the injuries.

Victorian Jockeys’ Association chief executive Des O’Keeffe said it was not known when Payne would be fit enough to return to riding, but was sure she would resume her career.

He said Payne had been booked for rides at Royal Ascot and Sweden in the coming weeks.

“The Alfred have conducted a number of scans on her today and have performed some surgery on her abdomen and that surgery has been successful and Michelle will remain hospital for a week or perhaps more and that will be determined,” O’Keeffe said.

“After conducting a number of scans, they decided surgery was the best option for her to make sure the recovery is complete as it can be and that surgery has a gone well, successful and hopefully the recovery from a very fit athlete starts really well tonight.”

O’Keeffe said when Payne was fit enough to return to riding would be determined over the next several weeks based on medical advice.