Michelle Payne Becomes First Female Jockey To Win Melbourne Cup

Michelle Payne beat the odds (100:1 to be exact!) to become the first female jockey in history to take out the Melbourne Cup.

The 30-year-old, the only female jockey in the race, came from behind to take the race from second and third runners up Max Dynamite and Criterion in the final seconds as well as race favourite Fame Game who did not place.

RELATED: Why Michelle Payne's Win Means Everything To Women In Sport

"Her win will only add to the many achievements of our other female athletes but encourage others to follow their dreams," says marie claire's publisher, Jackie Frank of the momentous occasion.

"It's breaking boundaries and it goes beyond sport to show that women given the opportunity can achieve not only equality but excel."

Speaking after the race, Payne admitted it was a dream come true to prove people wrong, and told the doubters to "get stuffed!"

Michelle Payne becomes the first woman to win the Melbourne Cup. Photo: Getty Images

"To think that Darren Weir has given me a go and it's such a chauvinistic sport, I know some of the owners were keen to kick me off, and John Richards and Darren stuck strongly with me, and I put in all the effort I could and galloped him all I could because I thought he had what it takes to win the Melbourne Cup and I can't say how grateful I am to them," she told Channel Seven after the race.

"I want to say to everyone else, get stuffed, because women can do anything and we can beat the world."

"This is everybody's dream as a jockey in Australia and now probably the world. And I dreamt about it from when I was five years old and there is an interview from my school friends, they were teasing me about, when I was about seven, and I said, 'I'm going to win the Melbourne Cup' and they always give me a bit of grief about it and I can't believe we've done it."

Michelle Payne with her 'biggest fan', brother Stephen Payne. Photo: Getty Images

Michelle is from a devoted Victorian horse racing family, and is the youngest of 10 children. Her mother died in a car accident when she was only 6 months old leaving her horse trainer father, Paddy Payne to bring up the brood alone. Though many of her her siblings have become jockeys and trainers, Paddy revealed his youngest daughter had a special passion.

In a 2009 interview with the ABC he recalled that his youngest daughter would get into bed with him at night and hold his hand so that he wouldn’t go to the stables in the morning without her. Michelle now lives with her stablemate brother Stevie, who is often referred to as the most popular strapper in the sport.