Is it a book? Is it a film? Yes, it's the legend of Michelle Payne
Australia's top sporting feminist heads for Ascot
As she and rank outsider Prince Of Penzance were loaded into the stalls for the 2015 Melbourne Cup, Michelle Payne may well have been dismissed in some quarters as a fairly successful jockey with a colourful back story, firm opinions and no chance of winning.
The 'race that stops a nation' had never given itself up to a female rider and it surely wasn't about to start now for the benefit of the forthright Victorian and the 100-1 no-hoper. At least she had a ride though, and the chance of a rear view of history being made.
Three and a half minutes later, after a madhouse of buffeting and scrimmaging, Payne was front-page news after an unlikely success that propelled her out of the shadows and into the national consciousness.
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Published on 13 June 2017inRoyal Ascot
Last updated 09:41, 20 June 2017
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