Michelle Payne has overnight become a national hero and a model for girls everywhere who dream big and work hard. Alongside her strapper brother Stephen and a whole family that have dedicated themselves to racing, this is a triumphant moment to savour and one that Ballarat should be proud to claim as its own. Theirs is also a family not untouched by tragedy but they have not let these vicissitudes stand in the way of aspiration and dedication. For those who fear breaking into a man’s world or into a sport where only fifty years ago women riders were “unthinkable”, the 2015 Melbourne Cup is a great coming of age. A passionate and hardworking jockey took on the best in the nation’s top race and seized the laurels. For those who have doubted Michelle’s ability they would do well to listen to the words of her father who exudes the quite confidence of an industry veteran
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Full credit must also go to trainer Darren Weir who has risen slowly from his training base north of Ballarat to win multiple group one races, win consecutive accolades as trainer of the year and now in a crowning glory transfix the attention of the nation with his horse Prince of Penzance. It may have been running at 100 to one but The Courier is proud to have run the plucky stayer on its front page when favourites dominated the news.
But to a certain extent this news is bigger than one race, or one day. The Melbourne Cup has a reputation that resonates internationally. For Ballarat the news couldn’t have come at a better time. Last week it was the introduction of the internationally renowned Cumani family into the semi-rural precincts just North of Ballarat.
The Ballarat Turf Club and the Ballarat City Council will have just one more reason to trumpet their high class horse training and racing facilities north of Miners Rest. Success breeds success and reputation now precedes it.. The Council developed its precinct plan back in 2011 with a key emphasis on the racing industry and meeting an unfolding demand they saw as space and cost pressures grew in Melbourne. They just needed to sell it. As we have said before this was a thorough and comprehensive document that might have sailed under the public radar. Little chance of that now when the area is producing champions and jockeys among the nation’s best.
