Melbourne Cup 2015: Michelle Payne's victory is a milestone for horse racing

Her achievement may count as the most significant female win in a mixed discipline of all time

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There was something inspiringly Australian about the victory speech of Michelle Payne. The first female jockey to win the Melbourne Cup, she had just completed a breathtaking ride, holding off a late surge from Frankie Dettori, and appeared in no mood to hand out the platitudes that might be expected. “I want to say to everyone else,” said the 30-year-old, addressing her legions of doubters, “get stuffed – because women can do anything, and we can beat the world”.

Her victory is indeed a landmark. It is often said of sports that do not require physical bulk – from darts, to snooker, to horse-racing – that women are at no disadvantage and so could be expected to feature more in the winners’ tables. That ignores the barriers to entry that attend merely attempting to compete as a woman in a male-dominated field.

Whether it is the risk of wounded pride among sportsmen that keeps the genders largely segregated, or a “boys’-club” attitude from administrators, the sight of women contending with men remains far too rare. Horse racing counts as a particularly odd case: almost every other equestrian sport, from showjumping to polo, is fully mixed. But most owners (almost exclusively men) seem disinclined to give a female jockey a chance in a race, despite their evident popularity with fans. “It’s such a chauvinistic sport,” said Payne.

Let her win mark a turning of the tide. The achievement was extraordinary not only in isolation – Payne jumped out of the gates at odds of 100-1 – but also may count as the most significant female win in a mixed discipline of all time. Young female horse riders across the world will want to follow Payne’s example, and it must now fall to more owners to give them a fair crack of the whip.