Jockey Michelle beats racing discrimination

Is there a greater thrill in November than enjoying a girlie Melbourne Cup luncheon when trailblazer jockey Michelle Payne became the first woman to win at Flemington? And she was riding my Sweep pick – Prince of Penzance! It’s such a cracker of an Aussie story. And the Lyceum club crowd cheered when she publicly berated the blokes who tried to have her removed as the horse’s jockey with a rousing “get stuffed”.

“I just want to say to everyone else, “You get stuffed’, because they think women aren’t strrong enough but we just beat the world,” she said after winning the 2015 Melbourne Cup and dobbing in the part-owners of Prince of Penzance who wanted her removed as the jockey. And our group of women warmly applauded when she hugged her Down syndrome brother Stevie, a strapper at the stables. Winning because he backed her with his ten bucks bet was far more important to note than the $6 million winnings from the race. Another very high hurdle of discrimination against women jumped over.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Congratulations to Michelle on being named The Australian’s Australian of the Year. A well-deserved accolade.

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