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EXCLUSIVE Michelle Payne doesn't look like this anymore! Trailblazing jockey unveils stunning transformation at Melbourne Cup READ MORE: Elizabeth Hurley bucks the all-red theme as she leads arrivals 2024 Melbourne Cup arrivals with Samantha Armytage and Sylvia Jeffreys By Mikaela Wilkes For Daily Mail Australia Published: 07:14 GMT, 5 November 2024 | Updated: 07:14 GMT, 5 November 2024 e-mail View comments Retirement looks golden on former Australian jockey Michelle Payne. The 39-year-old is the first and only woman to have ever won the Melbourne Cup, although this year's race featured a record four female jockeys. Michelle may have stepped away as a jockey and retired from the tracks, but she radiated in The Birdcage on Tuesday.
'I'm wearing Jason Crech and we are dressed for Cup Day in gold,' she told Daily Mail Australia. Swapping out her jodhpurs for a sculpted saffron gold mini dress, the Australian jockey looked positively regal. 'I was lucky enough to win the Cup back in 2015, so as an ambassador, we thought this was a great colour to choose,' she continued.
'It's just so cool.' Michelle exclusively revealed that she's currently single, but 'still looking' for a partner. Former Melbourne Cup winner Michelle Payne looked radiant in gold at the Melbourne Cup 'No,' Australia's golden girl answered with a laugh when cheekily asked if she has a love interest at the moment.
'I'm still looking.' When she was 18-years-old, Michelle was thrown from her horse. She fractured her skull and suffered bruising to her brain.
She had no short-term memory for two months and even broke her wrist during recovery. It was thrilling to be reminded of her victory as the first (and still the only) woman jockey to win the Melbourne Cup since it was first run in 1861 – and on a horse with odds of 100 to 1. Michelle Payne pictured attending Everest Race Day in Sydney in 2019 Michelle Payne confirmed that she's single and 'still looking' for love as she entered The Birdcage with Jessica Fox 'So I'm training now, not riding anymore in races, but working with Channel Nine that I'm going to have to shoot off too, but I'm loving being on the other side of the fence,' she said.
Michelle appeared on an otherwise all-male panel of sports commenters moments after the race that stops a nation. Embracing 'the new era' of her life, Michelle turned heads on Tuesday in a form fitting golden ensemble that featured a short skirt and a low V neck. She accessorised the racy look with a golden headpiece, golden heels, and handbag - while keeping her makeup fresh and natural.
Her Elizabethan-style millinery headband and golden skull cuff links made the bachelorette and horse trainer appear regal. Michelle Payne poses with Ronan and Storm Keating at the 2024 Melbourne Cup Forget the Golden Bachelor..
. Michelle Payne is the golden Bachelorette The former jockey, who had her first race ride as a 15-year-old in 2001, said she knew it was time to call time on her sensational career after she suffered three successive black eyes from training accidents at the end of last year. Read More The Block couple Mimi and Kristian put on united front at 2024 Melbourne Cup 'It was late last year, and it knocked me around a bit and probably shocked me into retirement a bit quicker than I was thinking,' she told the Sydney Morning Herald.
'But it was on the cards anyway,' After winning the Melbourne Cup, Michelle famously took a stand against sexism in the sport. 'It’s a very male-dominated sport and people think we [women] are not strong enough and all of the rest of it, but it’s not all about strength.' Michelle is the youngest of 10 children raised by their father after their mother died in a car accident, when she was only six-months-old.
These days, she spends much of her time working as a trainer and has a number of horses at her Nottingham Farm in Ballarat – just down the road from her dad. As a registered trainer since 2016, runners she's trained have won a respectable $487,000. As a jockey, the horses she rode have won almost $26 million in prize money of which the jockeys get five per cent.
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