Michelle Payne's one-month suspension may have been a blessing in disguise
Michelle Payne’s one-month suspension may have been a blessing in disguise with the jockey revealing she has now taken care of ongoing medical issues.
The Melbourne Cup-winning jockey was suspended last month after a test at Swan Hill on June 11 showed the presence of Phentermine, an appetite suppressant, in her system.
The suspension prompted Payne to seek further advice over problems associated with her fall at Mildura in May last year that led to her losing part of her pancreas.
Payne said she went to see her surgeon who found where he attached the pancreas to the stomach had sealed over with scar tissue.
“I’m now on enzyme tablets which is what the pancreas produces to get the nutrients out of the food,” Payne told RSN927.
“I’m feeling so much better and looking back I should have gone to him initially.
“I had a follow-up with him a month after the injury and everything was fine but what eventually happened was the scar tissue started growing across and I had no idea that could possibly happen.
“Imagine you are not getting the nutrients out of the food you are eating and you are working hard. It’s pretty tough, especially as a jockey because you don’t eat much as it is.
“They can’t go in and remove the scar tissue so I’ll be on the tablets for the rest of my life.”
Payne returns to racing at Flemington on Saturday for two rides – Invincible Al, a winning ride at Flemington on June 10, in the Flemington Event Staff Handicap and Vainglorious in the Domain Plate.
She hasn’t ridden since partnering Kaspersky in the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot on June 20.
Payne and her brother-in-law Kerrin McEvoy depart for England on August 8 to ride at the Shergar Cup meeting at Ascot on August 12.
She will also get the opportunity to partner Kaspersky in a Group Two race at Newbury on August 19.
Kaspersky is Melbourne-bound for the spring carnival with dual licence-holder Payne taking over as trainer from Newmarket-based ex-pat Australian Jane Chapple-Hyam.
“Hopefully he’ll be on the first shipment out here with the spring horses,” Payne said.
“We can and set him for the Toorak Handicap and then the Cantala Stakes or maybe just the Cantala depending on how he travels out.”
