UPDATE: Michelle Payne is expected to remain in hospital until at least Wednesday after falling from a horse during a race at Mildura on Monday.
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Payne was transferred to the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne to undergo tests on her pancreas and liver after initially being rushed to the Mildura hospital following the fall.
Payne had complained of suffering from severe abdominal pain following the fall.
EARLIER: Ballarat’s Melbourne Cup-winning jockey Michelle Payne will spend the night in a Mildura hospital after initial scans showed positive results following a nasty fall at a Mildura race meeting on Monday.
Late on Monday, Victorian Jockeys’ Association Des O’Keeffe told The Courier initial medical tests had brought some welcome good news.
“After advising of abdominal pain Michelle Payne’s initial scans have all been completed and are looking to be all clear,” he said.
Mr O’Keeffe said Michelle Payne would spend the night in hospital for further observation.
Payne crashed to the ground on her brother Patrick Payne's horse Dutch Courage during the seventh race.
Onlookers were concerned Payne had been seriously injured, however one of Victoria's leading jockeys told medical staff at the track that she was fully conscious.
Payne told doctors that while she had full movement in her arms and legs, she had severe abdominal pains after the fall.
Payne was sent to the Mildura Base Hospital for observation.
The incident was a reminder of the inherent dangers of racing thoroughbreds at high speed which are a constant for professional jockeys.
Michelle Payne has known the highs and lows of that career including numerous falls before her ascent to national fame at the Melbourne Cup last year.
In 2004 she could have been killed after being thrown from a horse at Sandown and suffered a fractured skull.
In 2012, the then 26-year-old was left with five fractured vertebrae and a couple of broken ribs when her mount El Divine, trained by Darren Weir, knuckled at the start and tipped her from the saddle in Donald. This was after suffering another accident, a minor neck fracture in 2011, each of which she worried might end her career.
But yesterday in Mildura, Payne was demonstrating the form which has made her one of Ballarat’s greatest sporting heroes.
Before the fall, Payne combined with her brother to score a winning double and last Saturday she finished second on her Melbourne Cup-winning mount Prince Of Penzance in Adelaide.
It was the first time Prince Of Penzance had been to the races since winning the 2015 Melbourne Cup.