'I've had my time in the sun' - history-making Melbourne Cup-winning jockey Michelle Payne retires

Michelle Payne, the first and only female jockey to have won the Melbourne Cup, has announced her retirement from the saddle.

Payne created history in the 2015 Flemington showpiece when riding the 100-1 outsider Prince Of Penzance to glory, but has relinquished her licence to Racing Victoria just before the new racing season begins.

"That's it for me," she told Racing.com. "It was a tough decision to come to and obviously took a lot of time to decide on, but I've achieved my biggest dream of winning the Melbourne Cup and had my time in the sun.

"I really enjoyed it and obviously loved the competitive side of riding and being out there and being connected with the horse."

Michelle Payne becomes the first female rider to win the Melbourne Cup on Prince Of PenzanceCredit: Robert Cianflone

Payne retires with 772 victories to her name, with her first winner coming as a 15-year-old for her father Paddy Payne snr. Having previously said it would be her last season riding, she will now concentrate on training.

She added: "I'm really looking forward to the training side of things, you still get as much of a kick out of it just watching it. I probably get a bit more nervous, which is interesting because it gets taken out of your hands a bit.

"At the end of the day it was always going to come to an end, I'm content and looking forward to the next step."

Payne, whose remarkable story was also made into a Hollywood movie in 2019, has been seen in Britain on ITV Racing, having been used by the broadcaster as part of its Royal Ascot coverage.

Alongside the Melbourne Cup, Payne's other Group 1 victories came in the 2009 Toorak Handicap and the Schweppes Thousand Guineas a year later.

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