Payne savouring 'life changing' Cup win Michelle Payne believes her life will never be the same again after her landmark victory in Tuesday's Melbourne Cup. Payne became the first female rider to win the Group One race as she steered the Darren Weir-trained Prince Of Penzance to win the two-mile prize. She told www.racing.com: "It's incredible. Darren Weir said to me when I said that I thought we could win that it would change your life and he asked me if I was ready for it and I said 'yeah I'm ready for it'." Payne went on: "I really want to be a great ambassador, not just for our industry but for sports people, for women, for anybody that has a dream and that they should never give up and to always have faith in themselves. "For some unknown reason I've always had this self-confidence that I could do just as good of a job as anybody and that one day I would get there and I think that's why I'm here today. "The main thing that I wanted to do was thank everybody that helped me to get there and the horse to get there and helped it happen because sometimes they get forgotten." Payne enjoyed a low-key celebration on Tuesday night as she came to terms with the impact of her achievement, but she expects to enjoy a bigger party later in the week. "All my friends and family came along and I think I took five million pictures last night," she said. "I just said to myself on the way there I wanted to just drink water and enjoy the night, I didn't want to get drunk and not remember the night. "There will be plenty of time for celebration and I think by the end of this week there will be a pretty good party."
