Melbourne Cup-winning jockey Michelle Payne was “pretty knocked around” by a fall in a race at Mildura, the Victorian Jockey Association chief says.
Payne will undergo further tests in a Melbourne hospital following Monday’s fall, having been taken to a local hospital complaining of abdominal pain.
Jockey Association chief Des O’Keefe spoke to Payne after her fall, and revealed there were mixed emotions for the 30-year-old.
“She sounded pretty knocked around really – very quiet – and, I think, happy that her head, neck and her back, arms and legs are all good,” O’Keefe told RSN radio on Tuesday morning.
“But (she) was in a significant amount of pain from whatever she’s done into her abdomen where she was complaining of the most pain.”
The Victorian Jockeys Association said initial scans appeared to be clear, but Payne tweeted just before 10pm on Monday night that she would be tested further in Melbourne.
“Thank you for all the well wishes. Off to the Alfred tonight to check out Pancreas and liver. Through the vest,” she tweeted.
An accompanying photo showed a deep line across the top of her abdomen.
Payne created history when she became the first woman to win the Cup last November aboard Prince Of Penzance.
Four apprentice jockeys injured in a multiple horse fall at Taree earlier in the afternoon were also hospitalised.
Samantha Clenton and Kaylee Kirkwood were taken to Port Macquarie Hospital with leg injuries with Clenton also suffering a broken collarbone.
Jackson Murphy and Nyssa Burrells suffered rib injuries and were transported to John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle.
