A day after their historic Melbourne Cup win, trainer Darren Weir and jockey Michelle Payne have had to settle for fourth in the Kyneton Cup.
Last week, Payne gave Weir a commitment she would ride Akzar at Kyneton in country Victoria on Wednesday so she could keep the mount for the upcoming Ballarat Cup in their home town.
“Darren told me he wanted the same rider for both Cups and I really want to win the Ballarat Cup so I said of course I would ride him,” Payne said.
At that stage, Weir had not considered the possibility outsider Prince Of Penzance could win the Melbourne Cup, at best hoping for a top 10 finish.
Because she was riding on Wednesday, Payne kept her Melbourne Cup celebrations to a minimum.
“I drank plenty of water,” she said.
“I didn’t need any alcohol.
“There will be time to celebrate after this week is over.”
She admitted the past 24 hours had been a whirlwind as she tried to accommodate every media request.
She also found one of the advantages of being a Melbourne Cup-winning jockey was she didn’t have to get in her car as usual and drive many kilometres to the country Victorian track with a helicopter taking her to Kyneton.
Weir, who partied hard throughout the night, firstly at a Melbourne hotel then back at his Ballarat stable, was a no-show at Kyneton.
