Children’s literature gave me strong, feisty young women whom I related closely to as a young girl.

Who will ever forget George in Enid Blyton’s Famous Five series? Every girl I know wanted to be George.

We had Judy in Seven Little Australians who challenged all the mores of the time to be her own unbridled self, and independent Norah in the Billabong series set in the Australian bush.

I became aware that we were watching history on that first Tuesday in November as the Melbourne Cup race unfolded.

Like a breath of fresh spring air, a strong feisty young woman alighted from a mighty horse and leapt into our hearts. She embraced her beloved brother and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

Even the colours jockey Michelle Payne wore were symbolic of suffragettes, the first women to fight so hard and so long for voting rights and equality – the colours of green, purple and white.

Michelle will be written into our history books and so she should, as much for her prowess on the race track as for her humble, graceful appreciation of her win and those who supported and encouraged her during tough years.

There was something so uplifting and refreshing about a slight, natural and courageous young woman this week that raised the whole of Australia’s spirits and took us to a new level of pride.

Michelle Payne, until now not really a household name except for those who are associated with horse racing, had taken out the most famous sporting event of the year in Melbourne, the ‘race that stops a nation’.

Michelle is symbolic of the impact that women are making in a number of different sports at an international level.

We have only to look at our netballers, the Diamonds, World Cup winners for the third time in a row, basketballers, the Opals, who have qualified for the Olympic Games next year, the Southern Stars, our cricket team, trouncing arch rivals England in the Ashes Series and now first of the world ranked teams, and our female swimmers and athletes. Our women are right there at the top of the tree.

Michelle, the latest of these sporting heroines, has a beautiful story to tell which includes her much loved and appreciated brother Stephen, a strapper at Michelle’s stables, who is a beacon of light for others who have or care for a person with Down’s Syndrome; and a remarkable dad who raised a family of 10 children single- handedly when their mother died far too young.

As this young woman dismounted from the Prince of Penzance and hugged her strapper brother, her words resonated around the race track: ‘Those who say women aren’t strong enough get stuffed’.

Brave words spoken with feeling.

Michelle threw down the gauntlet to those men in the racing industry who don’t believe a woman is strong enough to ride racehorses.

She has proved the doubters wrong in her long commitment to rise to the level she has achieved. It is hard work, dedication and long arduous hours of work on the track that brought her success. 

As she has said a number of times since her win ‘this is a male chauvinist working environment’. I am hearing the sound of glass ceilings smashing.