A strong turnout of more than 400 sports turf management professionals, apprentices and trade exhibitors attended the annual Sports Turf Association (STA) Sports Turf Seminar at the iconic Flemington Racecourse on July 30. 

There was a wide-range of speakers throughout the day, including Dr Phil Ford’s fascinating look at Silicon and Copper on Turf Trial Results, an engaging Workplace Resilience talk from leading Australian mental health specialist Rae Bonney, a Sportsfield Construction presentation from Baw Baw Shire and SportEng and an in-depth look at Water Management from Yarra Valley Water.

Legendary Australian jockey Michelle Payne (pictured right), who rode Prince of Penzance to victory in the 2015 Melbourne Cup and is currently the only female jockey to win the event which has run for 164 years, was the day’s keynote speaker. 

Payne, 39, who grew up near Ballarat, spoke to the crowd about her inspiring journey making her way up through a male-dominant sport, her childhood growing up with a single dad among nine siblings.

The retired jockey, who now trains in partnership with brother Patrick, went into tremendous detail on the emotion surrounding her famous win at the 2015 Melbourne Cup and how her life immediately changed in the aftermath, both positively and negatively which has included a feature film made about her life and multiple books about her pathway to stardom.

Payne spoke of how she had wanted to win the famous race since she was five years old and how the ups and downs, particularly growing up on the farm in a racing family shaped her perspective on sport, life and how it all interweaves with being a role model for women and girls in sport.

She also went into great detail on the severe injuries she endured during her career as a jockey, and the honour of receiving the Don Award in 2016, handed out to a sportsperson who through their achievements over the course of 12 months inspired the nation. 

Flemington senior track manager Liam O’Keeffe delivered an engaging presentation in the morning on the turf operations at the famous Australian track, his journey in the industry, track preparation pre-race day and race day and on data analysis.

O'Keeffe, who did his apprenticeship at the Warrnambool Racing Club in south-west Victoria, before moving to Flemington in 2013 and becoming the senior manager of the track in February 2018, conducted a mounting yard and winning post walk talk to cap off the day.

By Nick Creely/Pictures by Nick Creely and the STA