Michelle Payne has taken to Twitter this week expressing her disappointment at being over looked for the first-up ride on Melbourne Cup winner Prince Of Penzance in the Memsie Stakes 2016.
Michelle Payne has been ruled out of the 2016 Memsie Stakes ride aboard Melbourne Cup winner Prince Of Penzance by connections. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos.
Payne made history as the first female jockey to take out the ‘race that stops a nation’ when she guided Darren Weir’s 101/1 roughie Prince Of Penzance to victory in last November’s $6 million Group 1 Melbourne Cup (3200m).
The iconic two mile handicap at Flemington Racecourse on November 1 is again on the cards for Prince Of Penzance who returns to racing on August 27 in the $500,000 Group 1 Memsie Stakes (1400m).
The ownership group of the Pentire seven-year-old however have ruled out reuniting Payne with their $4.43 million earner in the season’s first elite level race at Caulfield Racecourse.
Payne rode Prince Of Penzance for his only autumn assignment when running a brave second to Tonopah in Morphettville’s Group 3 RA Lee Stakes (1600m) in Adelaide over the mile.
She subsequently suffered a nasty race fall at Mildura in May that led to injuries requiring surgery, and part-owner John Richards said her health was taken into consideration when making the tough call on the Memsie Stakes no-ride.
“The horse will be running in the Memsie Stakes and she won’t be riding,” he told Racing Victoria.
“That is the major reason, that she is not race fit and we have concerns over her wellbeing.”
Payne didn’t see it quite the same way and expressed her anger about missing the mount on social media.
“Not anymore I’m done, Why work your arse off for people who don’t appreciate what you do and write you off anyway #moretolife,” she tweeted on Wednesday.
Recovering from her fall, Payne has been back in work riding over the past fortnight with a decision pending on whether she’ll be right to line-up for another Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival in the saddle.
“I still have a massive fire in the belly to saddle up for one more Spring Racing Carnival, I love competing and feel I’ve got more to give,” she said recently in an interview with the Australian Women’s Weekly.
Futures Melbourne Cup betting at Ladbrokes.com.au meanwhile have Prince Of Penzance posted as a $31 chance to win successive editions of the world’s richest handicap for the first time since Makybe Diva made it three on the trot from 2003-05.
Irish raider Order Of St George remains the $11 favourite in all-in Melbourne Cup odds following a June win in the Group 1 Ascot Gold Cup (4000m) in England.
Prepared by Aidan O’Brien and part-owned by Australia’s five-time Melbourne Cup winning owner Lloyd Williams, the Galileo stallion needs to get in with the right weight to be confirmed as a starter in the capacity 24-horse field.
The bookies are also taking no chances with fellow Northern Hemisphere-trained Max Dynamite ($17) who ran second to ‘The Prince’ in last year’s Melbourne Cup quinella.
The William Mullins-trained Great Journey gelding is also trained out of Ireland and was last seen finishing a disappointing 10th to Order Of St George in the gruelling Gold Cup showdown.
Check out the full Melbourne Cup 2016 betting odds and options open now at Ladbrokes.com.au ahead of the official Melbourne Cup nominations on August 30.
