The owners of Prince Of Penzance (NZ) (Pentire {GB}) will not be engaging Michelle Payne for the ride on their G1 Emirates Melbourne Cup winner when he makes his intended seasonal return in the G1 Memsie S. at Caulfield on Aug. 29.
After becoming the first woman to win the Melbourne Cup aboard the gelding, Payne also rode Prince Of Penzance on his most recent start in May, when he finished second in the G3 R A Lee S. at Morphettville, but a subsequent race fall at Mildura meant the jockey has been away from the races since May 23 and has only recently returned to track work.
“The horse will be running in the Memsie Stakes and she won't be riding,” syndicate member John Richards told racing.com.
“That is the major reason, that she is not race fit and we have concerns over her wellbeing.”
Payne's injury and subsequent pancreatic surgery forced her to miss her intended trip to the UK to ride in the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup at Ascot, and she has recently signaled her intention to join her brother Patrick in the training ranks.
Protectionist (Ger) (Monsun {Ger}), who claimed the Melbourne Cup the year before Prince Of Penzance and recently bounced back to win the G2 Grosser Hansa-Preis in Hamburg, looks set to remain in Germany rather than return to Australia, with potential targets in France, Canada and America penciled in for the 6-year-old later this year.
The Andreas Wohler-trained stallion is entered to run in Monday's G1 Grosser Preis Von Berlin and could be aimed at the G1 Breeders' Cup Turf at Santa Anita in November rather than a second attempt at Melbourne Cup glory.
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