This story is part of the November 2 edition of Sunday Life. See all 13 stories .

Melbourne Cup Day 2015 was true mayhem. The most prestigious horse race in Australia had never been won by a female jockey until then. It was a crazy moment in history – a whirlwind. But what resonated for so many people wasn’t what I did, but what I said afterwards. When I called horse racing a “chauvinistic sport”. When I told anyone who thought women weren’t strong enough to be jockeys to “get stuffed”.

When I gave that interview to Channel 7 in the Flemington mounting yard, I really didn’t know what was coming out of my mouth. It was off the cuff. But the words themselves came from deep within. I’ve always been an open person who speaks from the heart. That speech was the voice of my struggle, and

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