Melbourne Cup-winning jockey Michelle Payne will ride in an international jockeys’ challenge at Royal Ascot in England in August.
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Payne has been confirmed as part of an all-female team in what is known as the Shergar Cup.
The Ballarat trainer-jockey will team up with Canada’s Emma Jayne Wilson and last year’s leading English apprentice Josephine Gordon.
Payne was also selected for the challenge last year, but was unable to make the trip after she was seriously injured in a race fall at Mildura in May.
The Shergar Cup is a five-race series and will be contested by three teams on the one day, August 12.
“I am so excited about riding in the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup, especially after the disappointment of not being able to last year due to my injury,” Payne told the Royal Ascot website.
“We have a great team
“I’m really hopeful that we can do the fans proud and take back the cup,” she said.
Her brother-in-law Kerrin McEvoy will captain a “rest of the world” team, with Jamie Spencer leading Great Britain and Ireland.
This will not be the first time Payne has ridden in England.
She had a “working holiday” there in 2009, when she managed to get a handful of race rides.
Payne is also hoping to ride at Royal Ascot in the lead up to the Shergar Cup.
She is booked to ride the Jane Chapple-Hyam-trained Kaspersky at the track in June. Chapple-Hyam is setting Kaspersky for the Queen Anne Stakes at Ascot with a long-term plan to campaign the galloper during the Melbourne Cup Carnival.
