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*This article appeared on The Courier on January 9, 2007.
ONE OF Ballarat's most famous racing dynasties is in mourning.
Former jockey Brigid Payne, 36, died on Monday night in Shepparton Hospital from a heart attack after having a seizure that morning.
Doctors believe her death is connected to a fall during trackwork in Euroa last July which left her in an induced coma.
He said the family was coming to terms with the news.
"As always it's a great shock when it's an unexpected death, and that's certainly the case with us, it was very unexpected," he said.
Paddy visited his daughter in hospital on Monday after learning of the seizure.
He said the doctor was "upbeat" about her condition, and he was travelling back to Ballarat with her son Sam, 14, when she died.
"He did seem that way (upbeat) to us, so we all sort of left fairly happy," he said.
Brigid was working at trainer David Hayes' Euroa property.
She had been back at work just three days after last year's fall.
"Brigid had her problems in life but she was a good-hearted person and she was happy with where she was working and they were happy with her," Paddy said.
Paddy and the majority of his 10 children have spent their lives riding and working with horses.
Brigid was the eldest sister to Therese, Maree, Bernadette, Patrick, Margaret, Andrew, Cathy, Stephen and Michelle.
Ballarat trainer Rob Smerdon said a lot of responsibility fell on her and Therese when their mother died in a car crash during the mid-1980s.
"As with all big families they all pulled together," he said.
"They're a great family, the whole lot of them - just a terrific group of people."
Mr Smerdon said Brigid broke into the industry at a time when female jockeys were rare.
"She was a bit of a trailblazer for female apprentices to follow her," he said.
"When she got going was when female jockeys were just coming into it so she had to battle for opportunities, but she did well."
Paddy said his daughter had helped lead her siblings into racing.
"She probably wasn't as successful as the others but she had a bit of trouble with weight so that cut her short a bit," he said.
"She was the first to get into it and she probably got some of the other kids going a bit."
Racing Victoria chairman Graham Duff described Brigid's death as a sad loss for racing.
"Brigid was the first member of her illustrious siblings to wear the jockey silks and represent them on the racetrack," he said.
"Our thoughts are with the Payne family."