Group 1 Melbourne Cup (3200m)-winning jockey Michelle Payne has officially hung up the saddle.
Payne, who achieved her greatest success in the 2015 Melbourne showpiece aboard Prince Of Penzance, retires after 23 years of racing and 772 wins.
Payne has long signalled her intent to retire and focus on training with her brother Patrick.
“It was a tough decision to come to and obviously took a lot of time to decide on,” Payne said.
“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.
“(I’m now) really looking forward to the training side of things, but 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.
“But at the end of the day it was always going to come to an end and I’m content and looking forward to the next step.”
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