{"id":565060,"date":"2026-03-26T06:32:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T06:32:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/565060\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T06:32:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T06:32:11","slug":"first-female-jockey-to-win-melbourne-cup-michelle-payne-honoured-with-statue-at-flemington","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/565060\/","title":{"rendered":"First female jockey to win Melbourne Cup, Michelle Payne, honoured with statue at Flemington"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australian horse racing trailblazer Michelle Payne, who was the first woman to win the Melbourne Cup<\/a> back in 2015, has been honoured with a statue unveiled at Flemington Racecourse today.<\/p>\n

Payne won Australia’s most prized horse race on a 100-1 outsider, Prinze of Penzance, shattering the glass ceiling.<\/p>\n

Dismounting her horse after her record-breaking victory, she famously told the chauvinistic doubters of the time to “get stuffed, because women can do anything and we can beat the world<\/a>“.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Payne celebrates after winning the Melbourne Cup on Prince of Penzance in 2015. (AAP: Julian Smith)<\/p>\n

The statue by sculptor Judith Leman is only the fifth at Flemington, putting Payne among racing icons such as Bart Cummings and Roy Higgins, and equine legends Phar Lap and Makybe Diva<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Victoria Racing Club chairman Neil Wilson today said it was hard to believe it was just over 10 years since Payne’s unforgettable win.<\/p>\n

“It was a moment that captivated Australia and a decade on, it still is fondly remembered by those lucky enough to have been here at Flemington, and for those cheering around the country,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Since this incredible achievement, Michelle has become an inspiration to young female jockeys and to every young person who dares to dream.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The jockey says the statue captures the strength and resilience needed to win the Melbourne Cup. (AAP: Jay Kogler)<\/p>\n

Payne said it was “just the most unbelievable privilege to be the fifth statue in 165 years”.<\/p>\n

She noted that Roy Higgins, a champion Australian jockey nicknamed “The Professor”, would greet her with a smile as he walked into Flemington as a teenager, while Bart Cummings gave her her first Melbourne Cup ride.<\/p>\n

Payne said her statue captured the strength and resilience needed to work towards a goal such as winning the Melbourne Cup.<\/p>\n

\"Michelle<\/p>\n

Michelle Payne with Prince Of Penzance after making history by winning the Melbourne Cup. (Reuters: Hamish Blair)<\/p>\n

“It’s still just incredible to stand here as a Melbourne Cup winner,” she said.<\/p>\n

“We’ve seen Jamie Kah (now Melham)<\/a>, the second female jockey (to win the cup), but it takes me back to my older sisters who rode 20 years ago, and for them it was something they couldn’t dream about. But we are seeing the times changing.<\/p>\n

“Honestly, from a five-year-old who grew up with a dream to be standing here with a statue, I couldn’t feel any prouder.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australian horse racing trailblazer Michelle Payne, who was the first woman to win the Melbourne Cup back in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":565061,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[64,63,23237,84818,153326,85,63272,278242,278243,25667],"class_list":["post-565060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-horse-racing","tag-melbourne-cup","tag-michelle-payne","tag-sports","tag-statue","tag-victoria-racing-club","tag-vrc","tag-winner"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=565060"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565060\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/565061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=565060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=565060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=565060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}