MICHELLE Payne has wound back the clock and reflected on a ride that landed her a hefty suspension during last year's spring carnival.
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But she says it was all worth it.
It was aboard Prince of Penzance in winning the 2014 Moonee Valley Cup that Payne copped a ban which saw her miss her one and only ride on the six-year-old in that year’s Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
Rounding the home turn, Payne took a run between horses that resulted in rival hoop Chad Schofield being dislodged from his mount Albonetti.
A year on, and the former Ballarat jockey is now getting set to partner the Darren Weir-trained stayer in the Melbourne Cup.
Payne is thankful she followed her instincts and took the run that won the race and ultimately qualified the horse for Tuesday’s Cup.
“I didn’t believe I deserved the 22-meeting suspension, but at the end of it all and through appeals and everything, everyone else thought I did so that was just the way it went,” Payne told The Courier.
“Thankfully nobody was hurt out of the incident and now looking back, it’s a minor thing to deal with now that he’s in the Cup.
“You have a split second to make a decision and sometimes if you hesitate it’s worse, so you’ve got to go with your gut instinct and that day I believe it was the right thing to do. Thankfully it has qualified him into the Melbourne Cup.”
Payne’s one and only ride in the Melbourne Cup was in 2009, when she partnered the Bart Cummings-trained Allez Wonder for a 16th-placed finish behind winner Shocking.
The 30-year-old believes Prince of Penzance, who ran second in the 2015 Moonee Valley Cup just over a week ago, was more likely to handle the 3200m of the Melbourne Cup.
“On the day, (Allez Wonder) had a beautiful run and felt as though she was going to be right in it coming past the 600m-700m, but she never stayed the two miles,” she said.
“That’s what people say - when you get to the clock tower at the 300m, you really know if your horse has the stamina for the distance and she didn’t.”
Payne said she would like to think Prince of Penzance was a realistic winning hope on Tuesday, but admitted she had to be realistic at the same time.
“It’s hard to know and obviously you can’t line him up with all the internationals and everything like that, but he did break the record with (winner) The United States in the Moonee Valley Cup and he pulled up fantastic from that,” she said.
Payne said Prince of Penzance, who will jump from barrier one, will acquit himself well in the race, in which he is rated a $71 chance of winning with TAB Sportsbet.
