Payne continues road to recovery Michelle Payne is facing a vital few days in her recovery after undergoing abdominal surgery following a fall at Mildura last Monday. The rider, who created history when becoming the first woman to win the Melbourne Cup last year, was unshipped from Dutch Courage, trained by her brother, Patrick, in a five-furlong sprint at the Victoria track. The jockey was initially taken to Mildura Base Hospital before being transferred to the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, where further tests prompted surgery last Tuesday. "She's doing well but she's not out of the woods yet," Patrick Payne told www.racing.com. "I think the pancreas can do a backflip on you, so I've been told it's the tiger country of the medical world - it can be quite dangerous territory. "She's in really good spirits and it's mending really well at this stage so we just have to be a bit more mindful and cautious for the next six days or so and all going well, she'll make a full recovery and if not, they might have to re-operate. "I've been told that you would rather split a spleen or your liver so I think it's a lot more vital than I thought it was."
