Michelle Payne takes out ‘The Don’ award for nation’s most inspiring sporting performance

MICHELLE Payne’s remarkable year continued with the Melbourne Cup-winning jockey taking out the prestigious ‘Don’ award for the nation’s most inspiring sporting performance.

TURF darling Michelle Payne’s history-making Melbourne Cup win of 2015 has been recognised as the nation’s most inspiring sporting performance of the past year when she won the prestigious “Don” award.

In a gathering of Australia’s sporting stars at Crown Palladium, Payne took out The Don, awarded by the Sport Australia Hall Of Fame, for her heroics aboard Prince of Penzance. Payne become the first female jockey to win the famous race, which was first run in 1861. CAULFIELD CUP: Racing terms explained - talk like a winner ONES TO WATCH: 10 horses to keep an eye on this carnival BACK A WINNER: How to bet on the races MICHELLE PAYNE: MY ROLLERCOASTER YEAR Payne said she felt overwhelmed after receiving her award in front of Australia’s sporting royalty. “To be honest I could not even prepare a speech for tonight because I felt as though I didn’t deserve it among the company that I was in,’’ Payne said. “I can’t believe it, I’m absolutely overwhelmed with winning the award and it’s just an honour to be here. “You can’t prove yourself if you’re not given the chance to prove it and for me ... on the day it felt like a win that was meant to be. “We need more opportunities to show that we can do as good as the men and I’m just hoping that we can continue that on. Payne remained hopeful of securing a ride for this year’s Melbourne Cup. “Obviously you never lose hope, but at the moment, I don’t have a Melbourne Cup ride,’’ Payne said. “Prince of Penzance I was still hoping to maybe get a ride on him, but he’s out now for the spring and possibly retired, but there is still quite a few horses without riders so you never lose hope.’’ She joins Damien Oliver as the only jockey to have won the prestigious award, named for cricket great Sir Donald Bradman, the inaugural legend inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame. Oliver was honoured in 2003 after he won the Melbourne Cup a year earlier on Media Puzzle, just days after the death of his brother Jason in a track fall. The Don is given annually to the athlete or team whose performance most inspired the nation. Payne beat a field including Rio Olympic Games gold medallists Kim Brennan (rowing) and Kyle Chalmers (swimming), Olympic flag bearer Anna Meares (cycling), Australia’s Olympic champion women’s rugby sevens team, Paralympians Dylan Alcott (tennis) and Curtis McGrath (canoeing) and rugby league star Johnathan Thurston. Payne captivated Australia when she became the first female jockey to win the 155-year-old race that stops the nation. Her brother Steven, who has Down syndrome, was the strapper and played a big role in Prince of Penzance’s preparation for the race, with the pair providing one of sport’s heartwarming stories. Payne famously told her doubters to “get stuffed” in post-race interviews and said she had been proud to prove people wrong in what she described as a “chauvinistic sport”. “I could never have believed everything that has happened since the race, absolutely not in my wildest dreams,’’ Payne said. “It was very much a life changing race.’’ But Payne’s journey since has not been a smooth one, with a heavy race fall in Mildura in May providing the “toughest challenge” of her life. “It’s definitely changed my views on life since winning the Melbourne Cup and then going through what I did with the fall,’’ Payne said. “I’ve always been grateful for any luck I’ve had but I think now, more than ever, I am just happy to be healthy and doing what I love. Anything from now is a bonus.” Payne said she didn’t have a confirmed ride for next month’s Melbourne Cup — “not at this stage but you never lose hope”. At Thursday night’s awards gala, seven sporting greats were inducted as members into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame — Jack Newton (golf), Emma Carney (triathlon), Kristy Ellis (surf life saving), Sharelle McMahon (netball), Malcolm Page (sailing), Libby Trickett (swimming) and Harry Wells (rugby league). “Father” of the Australian Institute of Sport, Bob Ellicott, was also inducted. Western Bulldogs premiership coach Luke Beveridge received the ‘Spirit of Sport’ award for his AFL Grand Final gesture when he presented injured captain Bob Murphy with his premiership medallion on stage after the match. It was just the sixth time since its inception in 2005 that the ‘Spirit of Sport” award had been presented.

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