Australia’s Melbourne Cup won by first female jockey

MICHELLE Payne, 30, has won the Melbourne Cup in Australia and is the first female jockey to be victorious in the race.

Her horse, Prince of Penzance, wasn’t expected to pick up a win however the New Zealand bred horse beat the French horse Max Dynamite who placed second and fellow New Zealand horse Criterion who finished third.

The delighted jockey said it was “everybody’s dream” and added, “My sister and I had a feeling I was going to win, and it turned out exactly how I thought it would,”

She was the fourth female to participate in the Cup’s 155 year history and the win is hugely significant in the most esteemed horse race in the country and she expressed her pride after the competition,

“I’m so glad to win the Melbourne Cup and, hopefully, it will help female jockeys from now on to get more of a go. We don’t get enough of a go.”

Known as “the race that stops a nation”, the Melbourne Cup saw eleven international horses among the 24 contenders in the race with just one horse, Sertorius, bred in Australia.