Michelle Payne entered racing aged 15, winning her first race in Ballarat on a horse trained by her father. Michelle won her first Group One race, the Toorak Handicap at Caulfield Racecourse aboard Allez Wonder on 10 October 2009 and trainer Bart Cummings offered her the ride at the Caulfield Cup the following week. Michelle was only the third female jockey to ride in the Caulfield Cup, one of Australia's most prestigious horse races. This also led her to a ride in the 2009 Melbourne Cup, once again riding Cummings' Allez Wonder. In 2010 Payne rode Yosei to victory in the Thousand Guineas at Caulfield. John Harms is a Melbourne - based writer, historian, and broadcaster. His books include Confessions of a Thirteenth Man, Memoirs of a Mug Punter, and Loose Men Everywhere, which now form the omnibus Play On, the second edition of which was released in March 2016. He also wrote The Pearl: Steve Renouf's Story and has edited nine editions of The Footy Almanac annual.

He appears on ABC - TV's Offsiders.