{"id":496836,"date":"2026-03-26T02:00:19","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T03:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=496836"},"modified":"2026-03-26T03:22:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T03:22:23","slug":"melbourne-cup-icon-payne-immortalised-with-statue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=496836","title":{"rendered":"Melbourne Cup icon Payne immortalised with statue"},"content":{"rendered":"

Melbourne Cup<\/a> icon Michelle Payne<\/a> has been immortalised with a bronze statue at Flemington<\/a> racecourse.<\/p>\n

Payne and the Victorian Racing Club (VRC) unveiled\ufeff the statue on Thursday, just over a decade since she became the first woman to ride a horse to victory in the nation's favourite turf race.<\/p>\n

Payne steered $100 chance Prince Of Penzance to a stunning win in the 2015 Melbourne Cup<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"Michelle<\/p>\n

Now she sits forever alongside iconic trainer Bart Cummings, fellow jockey Roy Higgins, and superstar horses Phar Lap and Makybe Diva outside the famous racecourse.<\/p>\n

"My life changed in 2015 when I won the Melbourne Cup aboard Prince Of Penzance, and it has been the most amazing journey since," Payne said on Thursday.<\/p>\n

"To now have a statue here at Flemington is truly extraordinary; it feels very surreal.<\/p>\n

"As a young girl, the Melbourne Cup was the race I dreamed of winning and knowing that dream came true fills me with immense pride.<\/p>\n

\"Michelle<\/p>\n

"My hope is that everyone who views this statue feels encouraged to chase their dreams and ambitions, no matter how big they are."<\/p>\n

Payne's statue was designed by artist Judith Leman and funded by philanthropist Lady Marigold Southey AC\ufeff.<\/p>\n

"Michelle's statue is designed to represent and honour her remarkable journey, her inner strength we have all come to respect, and the inspirational power her Cup-winning ride has generated for more than a decade," Leman said.<\/p>\n

\"Michelle<\/p>\n

VRC chairman \ufeffNeil Wilson said Payne is as deserving as Cummings, Higgins, Phar Lap, and Makybe Diva in having a statue at Flemington.<\/p>\n

"Michelle is an inspiration to countless Australians, and a powerful ambassador for female participation and the sport of horse racing," Wilson said.<\/p>\n

"We are proud to recognise Michelle's achievements and her rightful place amongst some of the legends of our sport."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Melbourne Cup icon Michelle Payne has been immortalised with a bronze statue at Flemington racecourse. Payne and the Victorian Racing Club (VRC) unveiled\ufeff the statue […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":496838,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496836"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=496836"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496836\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":496842,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496836\/revisions\/496842"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/496838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=496836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=496836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=496836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}