Jockey Michelle Payne has made history on Tuesday. She became the first female to win Australia's Melbourne Cup horse race on the back of horse Prince Of Penzance.
Payne, 30, was the only female jockey riding at Flemington Racecourse on Tuesday in the A$6.2 million race. It was an almost impossible feat due to a long odds chance of 101-1. Prince Of Penzance, trained by Darren Weir, was followed to the finish line by Max Dynamite and then Criterion.
Prince of Penzance was $101 @tabcomau fixed odds. Becomes 4th horse to win at triple figures & first since 1940. #MelbourneCup— Matt Jenkins (@mattjenkinstab) November 3, 2015
Payne called the win "unbelievable, a dream come true," but also spoke up against the ugly side of the male-dominated sport.
"It is such a chauvinistic sport, some of the owners wanted to kick me off the horse," Payne said following the race. "But I gave it everything I got. I want to say to everyone else get stuffed, they think women aren't strong enough but we just beat the world."
She hopes the win will inspire other female jockeys to push through, despite having a different skill set to male jockeys.
"It's a male dominated sport, and people don't think we are strong enough. It's not all about strength ... hopefully it will help female jockeys from now on getting more than a go," she said.
The race sees 24 horses run a course of 3,200 metres (10,499 feet) on the first Tuesday of November every year and is known as "the race that stops a nation" for three-and-a-half minutes.
It was Payne's second run in the Melbourne Cup, after an unsuccessful attempt on the late Bart Cumming's horse Allez Wonder in 2009, on which she finished 16th. She is only the fourth female jockey to race in the prestigious race.
The jockey comes from a large racing family and is the youngest of 10 children -- eight of whom have been or are currently jockeys, including her brother Patrick who won the Cox Plate. Her brother Steven, who has Down's syndrome, strapped Prince Of Penzance -- making Tuesday's celebration a true family affair.
We've come a long way since 1913, at least, and this win by Payne is sure to push the acceptance of female jockeys even further.
At Flemington in 1913 Tasmanian Miss Marjorie Longder was discovered riding and cautioned https://t.co/TSY28ms8jT pic.twitter.com/RVN8H0szA7— Trove (@TroveAustralia) November 3, 2015