Melbourne Cup winning jockey Michelle Payne has officially retired from riding, confirming she has relinquished her jockey license to Racing Victoria. Payne had a remarkable 23-year career, achieving 772 career victories.
“I’ve handed in my license so that’s it for me,” Payne said. “It was a tough decision to come to and obviously took a lot of time to decide on. But I’ve achieved my biggest dream of winning the Melbourne Cup and had my time in the sun. I really enjoyed it and obviously loved the competitive side of riding and being out there and being connected with the horse.”
Payne is now shifting her focus to her training career, finding excitement in watching and managing horses. “(I’m now) really looking forward to the training side of things, you still get as much of a kick out of it just watching it. I probably get a bit more nervous, which is interesting because it gets taken out of your hands a bit. But at the end of the day it was always going to come to an end and I’m content and looking forward to the next step.”
Payne will form a training partnership with her brother Patrick and possibly her brother Andrew. Reflecting on her career, Payne expressed gratitude for the support and guidance of her family. She had her first ride and win at age 15 on a horse called Reigning for her father, Paddy Payne Snr.
Now, Payne aims to reach the sport’s highest levels as a trainer.