Victory Fit For a Queen and a Prince

‘Who will be king?’ That was the question posed on banners on the big screens along the home stretch, but in the end the coronation was for a queen, as Michelle Payne reigned over Flemington with an historic first victory for a female jockey in the G1 Emirates Melbourne Cup aboard 100-1 chance Prince Of Penzance (NZ) (Pentire {GB}). Payne has ridden the Darren Weir-trained 6-year-old in 21 of his 22 starts, including last year’s triumph in the G2 Moonee Valley Cup, but harbored a fear of losing her partnership with the horse she says is the best she’s ever ridden, with the large syndicate of owners in disagreement over who should be signed up for the big race.

“It’s fair to say that I drove Darren mad about this horse as I know some of the owners wanted to take me off him, but I just kept going down and riding his gallops. I had a feeling we were going to win the Melbourne Cup and I told Darren that,” said Payne as she was mobbed by media and well-wishers in the aftermath of the Cup. She added, “Darren said, ‘just win on him and don’t give them an excuse to take you off.’ I’m so grateful to him for sticking with me and we’ve just won the Melbourne Cup, so hopefully the owners won’t mind now.”

The youngest of 10 children, Payne hails from one of Australia’s most famous racing dynasties. Her father, Paddy, was a trainer, and no fewer than seven of her siblings have ended up as jockeys. Being the last of the line to take to the saddle, the determined rider said her earliest ambition was simply to be better than her elder sisters.

The sibling to whom she is closest is Stevie, the second-youngest of the clan who has Down Syndrome and works for the winning trainer at his Ballarat stable close to the Payne family home. Having selected the inside barrier at Saturday night’s draw, Stevie then led up his sister on Prince Of Penzance ahead of the duo’s momentous victory.

Payne, who lost her mother, Mary, in a road accident when she was just six months old, paid tribute to her brother, saying, “Stevie is so capable and can do just as good a job as anyone else at Darren’s stable. We’ve always been the closest as, being the youngest, were always together when we were growing up. I’m just so proud of all he’s achieved.”

Stevie doubtless felt the same as he joined his sister on stage during the press conference and beamed throughout. Weir may soon have a rival for Stevie’s services as Michelle, now 30, revealed she is keen to take out her training licence after being asked whether she is to retire from the saddle, having earlier promised to do so at the age of 28. She said, “I always thought I’d retire if I won the Melbourne Cup but I like the idea of being able to have a dual licence.”

As Victoria’s champion trainer, Darren Weir is no stranger to success himself, but the addition of a Melbourne Cup to his trophy cabinet clearly ranked higher than any other item on his long list of achievements.

“It’s an absolute dream come true. I was really happy to win the metropolitan trainers’ championship but this beats it by a long way,” said the man who started “messing about with a horse or two” in 1995 at Stawell, a bush track some 250kms from Melbourne, after stints as a horse-breaker and farrier. Fast-forward 20 years and more than 120 horses are now under Weir’s care, with the majority being stabled at Ballarat and room for a further 20 at the seaside training centre of Warrnambool. It is here that the fragile Prince Of Penzance has undergone a significant portion of his training.

“He’s shown really good staying ability all the way through but he’s had two fetlock operations and a surgery for a twisted bowel, so he does most of his work on the beach at Warrnambool,” said the trainer.

Asked what his plans are for Prince Of Penzance’s racing future, Weir replied, “I don’t care what he does now. He’s done his job. As far as I’m concerned he can have a place in the paddock at mine forever. It’s amazing after what he’s been through to get back to race at this level.”

Twenty-four horses jumped from the gates in the 155th Melbourne Cup but only 23 returned to scale when the fragility of the Thoroughbred was cruelly underlined by a serious fetlock injury to the globally popular veteran Red Cadeaux (GB) (Cadeaux Genereux {GB}). Pulled up in the stretch by Gerald Mosse, the Ed Dunlop-trained 9-year-old was taken immediately to Werribee Veterinary Clinic and is set to undergo surgery on the fracture on Wednesday morning.

“At the 100-metre mark when I saw him falter, I thought I wouldn’t see him alive again,” said an emotional Dunlop, who described Red Cadeaux’s injury as “bad but repairable.”

Remembering Bart on Cup Day…

In a nation famed for its love of sport, there is no richer prize in Australia than the $6.2 million Emirates Melbourne Cup.

There’s no messing about on Cup day. During Britain’s Royal Ascot meeting, racegoers meet for lavish car park picnics before sauntering into the racecourse for a leisurely 2:30 p.m. start to the day’s action. At Flemington, the starting gates burst open at 10:40 a.m. for the first of 10 contests, with runners for the jewel in the crown of Australian racing coming under starter’s orders at 3 p.m.

In 1965, a filly named Light Fingers started a 50-year relationship with the Cup for her trainer Bart Cummings, who would go on to win the race on a further 11 occasions and was as beloved for his phenomenal success as for his witty and often combative one-liners. Cummings’s father, Jim, had won the race in 1950 with Comic Court and the line thrives still, with son Anthony and grandson James–the latter having trained in partnership with his grandfather until his death on Aug. 30–both licensed trainers in Victoria.

Though the aptly named Ruling Dynasty (Aus) (Medaglia d’Oro) failed to secure a Cup berth when finishing seventh in the G3 Lexus S. on Saturday, the day did not pass without the name Cummings featuring prominently. James won the tab.com.au Trophy with the battling Zarzali (Aus) (Hussonet) in the colors carried to glory in the big race itself by Saintly (Aus) in 2008 and Viewed (Aus)–Bart’s final Cup winner–in 2008. The following race for staying handicappers was named the JB Cummings AM Tribute Plate in honor of the great trainer, and later teenagers wearing the silks of the great trainer’s dozen Cup winners lined the mounting yard as the national anthem was sung prior to this year’s Cup. On Saturday, Anthony Cummings has the responsibility of presenting the JB Cummings Excellence Award for the outstanding training performance of the four days of the Melbourne Cup Carnival on Emirates S. day.