Making every post a winner
Marcelle mogg
Paddy Payne is talking excitedly about boxing, having recently attended
a charity match and dinner. In a novel twist, professional jockeys squared
off in the ring, all in the name of a good night and to raise funds for
a young rider battling leukemia. Paddy knows a bit about facing tough
contests and punching above his weight.
Paddy Payne is one of Australia’s leading horse trainers. Born in
New Zealand, he and his wife Mary migrated to Australia in the early 1980s.
Along the way they have raised a family of ten children, including some
of the country’s foremost riders—Patrick, Maree, Thérèse,
Andrew, Cathy and recently apprenticed Michelle.
The family home just outside Ballarat in Victoria reflects the Payne’s involvement with photos of winning horses adorning the walls. Our Paddy Boy named after their eldest son, Patrick junior, was one of the best two-year-olds in his time and helped launch the career of jockey Greg Childs. Some photos are beginning to fade but the energy in this family remains undiminished. The Payne name has been a feature in Australian racing for close to 20 years. And they continue to make a big contribution both on and off the track.
While Paddy and the children have much to be proud of in racing terms, it is in raising a close and large family that Paddy draws most pride. Raising ten children would present more than enough challenge for most of us. In Paddy’s case this was made even more difficult following the tragic death of his wife Mary in a car accident.
At that time, the youngest, Michelle, was still a baby. Banding together
and drawing on the loving support of Paddy’s sister Margaret, and
his wife’s family, the family pulled through.
Faith has been a cornerstone in Paddy’s life and he is fiercely loyal
to the church. And while faith and the friendship of the local parish
priest have been of great support to him through difficult times, Paddy
has an inherent resilience.
‘I’m an optimist and I think when things are bad, something’s got to get better. I think it’s good that when things are bad you can call on a higher level to help you out.’
Paddy is circumspect about the hand life has dealt him. One of his boys, Stephen, has Down’s syndrome. Paddy embraces this is just another aspect of life.
‘All families have their troubles. I remember when Stephen was born, the people who lived near us came over and said, "Oh, jeez that’s bad luck". The next week their son was shot accidentally. This is what happens in life, things go wrong.’
As a farmer, racehorse trainer and father, Paddy is not one to sit and dwell on possibilities. The family now raise cattle, having sold the dairy two years ago. His love of horse racing came about when Paddy was a teenager growing up on his family’s farm in New Zealand.
‘It was a family thing for me. My father, Buster, was a horse breaker and rode a bit in the show events but not in a big way. We raised cattle so we were working with horses and we used to go down to the races. I went along and started to race and it went from there.’
The racing fraternity has provided a close community for the Payne family over the years and they enjoy the respect of many of their peers. Paddy is as much admired as a father as for his skills as a trainer. Fellow trainers George Hanlon, Lee Freedman and Bart Cummings spoke with great respect for Paddy during their tribute to him on This is Your Life late last year.
‘It’s a close community in racing’, explains Paddy. ‘I really feel that racing people get on with one another. If someone’s having a bad run or some bad luck, then they’re pretty good to one another.’
Paddy is justifiably proud of his children not only for their successes
on the racetrack but in their lives as adults and parents. His son, Patrick
is a leading professional rider. Daughters Thérèse and Maree
were among the first female professional riders. Cathy is now retired,
having become a mother to two young children.
‘One of the highs for me is that my kids get on so well together.
I’m very happy to see that. They’re close and they’re happy
with each other. It’s good for me to see that. They laugh together
and enjoy one another.
‘Honesty and fairness are the number one things for me in life and for what I want for my kids. Honesty and fairness in the ways they deal with others in their lives. It’s not much good going to church and saying "Dear God" and "Holy, holy" if you’re not going to be honest and fair the next day.’
True to his word, Paddy is not afraid of a fight when he sees an injustice.
Paddy has been concerned for some time about the treatment of apprentice
jockeys, particularly those from country areas. Regulations introduced
by the VRC require apprentice jockeys, some as young as 14 or 15, to live
away from home for four or five weeks a year, often travelling long distances
alone. It is a dispute which Paddy intends to pursue and as he talks you
get a glimpse of a man who knows how to tough out a fight.
So, after so many years of early starts and long days, what keeps him
going?
‘I enjoy the country meetings mostly. It’s good to see the good horses. I get excited watching a champion horse. There was a horse a few years ago called Vo Rogue. He was a low profile horse at the start with not much breeding and the connections were largely unknown. The trainer was a knockabout bloke who was a fairly hard case and the jockey was not well known either. And they beat the very best. Well, everybody loved them.
‘Vo Rogue had a tearaway racing style, a "catch me if you can". I’ve never seen a more popular horse in my time.
‘I remember being here at the Ballarat races and Vo Rogue was racing in Melbourne. I was in the jockey’s room at the time watching the race on the television. I was surprised to see all of the jockeys in the room shouting, "Go Vo! Go Vo!" all shouting for this one horse.
‘I think racing is one of the last places where that can happen—where the underdog can win out. It’s not a matter of opinion. In racing, it’s the first bugger that gets past the post and you can’t argue with that!’
Paddy has a warm and ready smile and there is equal parts mischief and laughter in his eyes. Perhaps having faced some of the worst that life can dish out, he takes greater delight than most in life’s joys.
‘We have had some good luck and some not so good. The best times for me have been seeing the children do OK.’
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