Michelle Payne became the first female jockey to win the A$6.2 million Melbourne Cup as she rode rank outsider Prince of Penzance to victory in Australia's richest and most prestigious race.
Jumping from barrier one, Payne bided her time until well into the final straight before pushing the 100-1 shot clear of the pack 200 metres from the line and held off a charging Max Dynamite by three-quarters of a length.
Criterion crossed the line third in the gruelling 3,200 metre handicap at Flemington racecourse.
"My sister Margaret and I both had a feeling we would win this race," Payne said in a trackside interview.
"It's such a chauvinistic sport, a lot of the owners wanted to kick me off.
"Everyone else can get stuffed (who) think women aren't good enough."
The Kiwi breeders of the champion horse say they are thrilled at his success.
And they have also revealed a secret - that Prince of Penzance has a full brother still on the farm who looks just as good.
Rich Hill Stud is a thoroughbred nursery based in Walton, in the Waikato region.
The farm's managing director, John Thompson, said staff were going crazy after jockey Michelle Payne stormed through first to the finish line on the horse they bred.
"We're pretty excited here. I guess, for us, it's the holy grail of breeding. And for one of the horses raised and sold off the farm - it's just put this farm in the world's spotlight. So it's great."
Mr Thompson said he vividly remembered the Prince, which was sold off from the farm as a yearling about 2009, he said.
"He was a night athletic horse. He was what you call a late foal. So when he went to yearling sales, he was a bit immature."
Mr Thompson said he had met Payne as well as trainer Darren Weir on separate occasions and both had told of their love for Prince of Penzance and his chance of doing well at the Cup this year.
He revealed that they currently had a full brother of the Prince, which they were hoping to sell off at the regular thoroughbred sales in Karaka next year.
Asked if he might be just as special as his brother, Mr Thompson said: "He's a very nice horse - probably a bit of ahead of Prince of Penzance at what he was at the same stage. A bit stronger."
- By Vaimoana Tapaleao of the New Zealand Herald
