Apprentice Samuel Payne spurred on by memory of his mother as he attempts to establish himself as top jockey

APPRENTICE jockey Samuel Payne is back riding with a new attitude and purpose as he seeks rides and not sympathy.

Samuel Payne. Apprentice jockey and nephew of Melbourne Cup Winning jockey Michelle Payne, Samuel Payne has relocated from Brisbane to complete his apprenticeship. Samuel Payne with Alpine Passion at Mike Moroney Stables at Flemington Racecourse. Picture: Eugene Hyland

AS time has passed, Samuel Payne is looking for rides and not sympathy.

Payne was only 14 when his mother Brigid died in early January 2007 from a heart attack caused by a seizure.

A single mother, she was only 38 years old and the oldest of Ballarat’s famous Payne children — Therese, Maree, Bernadette, Patrick, Margaret, Andrew, Cathy, Stephen and Melbourne Cup winning jockey Michelle.

Samuel admits it was a tough period of his life as he struggled without his mother but he is spurred on by her memory and the drive to establish himself as top jockey in Victoria since returning from Queensland.

Following in the famous family racing dynasty, Payne became an apprentice when he was 15 years-old but his personal battles forced him from the saddle but he has been back riding with a new attitude and purpose for the past three years.

Now 23, he finishes his apprenticeship in a couple of weeks and like so many he wishes he’d done things differently along the way but his happy to be given another chance at giving some more glory to the Payne name.

“With everything going on, I just didn’t last but I’ve been riding three years straight now and I’m loving it,” Payne said.

“When I lost my mum I went through a really bad stage of my life.”

A fall at Stawell and then weight issues sparked his premature retirement but he went to Perth and then returned to riding work for Mike Moroney on the Sunshine Coast where the kilos started to tumble as he says he became happy and in a good place.

“I decided to give it a good go and for three years I rode up there and I feel 100 per cent,” he said.

Apprentice jockey and nephew of Melbourne Cup-winning jockey Michelle Payne, Samuel has relocated from Brisbane to complete his apprenticeship. Picture: Eugene Hyland

“I first started my apprenticeship with Stephen Lee in Ballina in New South Wales. I went right up north.”

After the sudden death of his mother, he said every situation became hard and a battle which he says, when looking back, wasn’t.

“It took me a long time to get my head sorted,” he said.

“I had about four years away from it. At the time the family said to me that there was no point riding unless I was going to give it 100 per cent and at that stage of my life I couldn’t give it 100 per cent and that’s why I took the four years off because now I can give it that 100 per cent.”

Payne was living with his grandfather Paddy Payne when his mother, who was working at Euroa, passed away.

“Grandad was a big help to me back then and he helped me beyond lengths but I suppose I was too young to realise it,” he said.

Samuel Payne, like all the Payne racing dynasty, is not afraid of the hard yards. Picture: Eugene Hyland

“When I was growing up it was just me and mum and when she passed away I just shut down to everyone and it was a very tough time.”

Payne said he wanted to return to Victoria to be near his family and take advantage of Australia’s top racing state.

“It you want to give it 100 per cent, you have to giving it against the best.” he said.

“And there’s where you really do improve yourself because you are surrounded by good jockeys and picking up good habits. I want to be around the best and be the best I can.”

Payne knows he’ll have to do the hard work and long drives to make trainers and owners notice him but he started off well with his first stint back in Victoria last week when he rode a second and third from four rides at Horsham which added to his impressive place strike rate of 44 per cent.

On Saturday (Boxing Day) he travels to Nhill for a full book of rides and then the following day he takes a three and half-hour drive for one ride at Warrnambool.

“I just appreciate that trainers are putting me on,” he said.

“I have got my weight under control and I’m in a good place.”