The next big change coming for pregnant Michelle Payne

When Michelle Payne marked last November a decade since her history-making victory in the 2015 Melbourne Cup, she described it as the closing of an extraordinary chapter.

Now, she is writing a new chapter as she prepares to start a family. Payne, 40, is five months pregnant with her first child, with partner Gabriel Ribeiro .

“I felt like I did everything I could in achieving my goal of winning the Melbourne Cup, and as the first female to ride the winner I wanted to give back to racing and to women and sport,” Payne told CBD.

“That was something I felt was important to do. Then [after the 10-year anniversary] it was time to focus on myself and my own dreams, and everything has fitted into place.

“It is super-duper exciting. I’m feeling so excited and scared because it’s a whole new chapter that is just so foreign to me, even though I’ve been around lots of sisters that have had children and my brother, Patrick.

“I’m definitely not taking it lightly, but it is just really exciting at the same time because it is a real privilege to fall pregnant naturally.”

Payne, who grew up in the public eye as part of the thoroughbred racing Payne family – she was one of 10 children, eight of whom became jockeys – and had her life story told in the Rachel Griffiths -directed film Ride Like A Girl , said having a family had been a long-held goal.

“Right from when I was a little girl, it was winning the Melbourne Cup and having a family of my own; they were certainly at the top of my list,” she said.

With Payne’s baby due in January, Ribeiro’s mother recently visited from Brazil.

“She could not be any more excited or supportive,” said Payne, who is working with DrinkWise to urge women to avoid alcohol during pregnancy and while breastfeeding.

“It is great to have the support of a great partner and his family. We are over the moon.”

In further change, Payne has placed her thoroughbred training property at Ballarat on the market.

“If the right buyer comes along, that would be fantastic, but if not, it is a great property and investment to have,” she said.

For now, Payne is in “mum mode” and is “just totally focused on giving this little person the best start to life that they can have”.