But the feel good factor of Michelle Payne’s win on Pirates of Penzance on Tuesday has been felt far and wide in racing circles and beyond, and it has been felt most deeply by those who best relate to the enormity of the achievement – Payne’s fellow female jockeys.

With a bit of luck, we’ll soon get to see the Cup queen on our own turf with a bid launched to lure Payne to the Wodonga Cup meeting.

And should that happen, there will be no shortage of talented local female jockeys to greet her.

Brooke Sweeney – one of four female jockeys riding at Albury’s Oaks Day meeting on Thursday – rode two of her own winners at Wangaratta on Cup day but was able to take a brief moment to cheer Payne past the post in her history making ride.

She, like many, welcomed Payne’s comments that her doubters could “get stuffed”.

It was a comment that could offend only the most dim-witted of observers but for Sweeney and other female jockeys, it was more than a case of refreshing honesty from Payne – it felt like someone “sticking up” for them.

Across the Border, North East and Riverina, our racing industry appears to be a progressive one.

Females now represent 30 to 40 per cent of jockeys, and most racing clubs provide separate change rooms for women.

It’s a sad reality that it will probably never be the case that women jockeys enjoy total equality, 100 per cent of the time.

Wagga jockey Rebekah Prest tells of how one trainer advised her to disguise her hair in a bun in a bid to look like a male jockey – advice he gave out of concern for her that she would be more of a target for criticism from the crowd as a woman if she were to make a mistake.

Payne appeared to be shooting from the hip with her remarks after Tuesday’s win – but they were considered observations. 

As the Cup winner, she had every right to call it as she sees it – and it would be a brave man who’d argue.