Jockey Payne faces tough call

By Robert Grant

MELBOURNE, Sept 28 AAP - Group One winning jockey Michelle Payne is determined to quit on her own terms - but she faces an agonising decision before fulfilling her goal.

Payne, who has had a horror run with race falls which have damaged her back and led to a string of concussions, will have to make a call soon on whether or not she should risk further injury.

She most recently suffered concussion when she fell from Julinsky at Ararat in country Victoria last Friday.

She aggravated her back again after only recently returning to the saddle following a fall at Donald in May which left her with five fractured vertebrae and several broken ribs.

The 26-year-old, who has snared three Group One victories on Yosei, received confirmation on Thursday that while her back injury was relatively minor, her problem with concussion was potentially serious.

Payne said she would now book in for a second brain scan and then make a decision about her immediate riding future.

Racing Victoria doctor Gary Zimmerman told her her she had damaged the wing of two vertebrae - compared to hurting five in the previous fall.

"But he said because I had pretty bad concusssion. I have to pass the neuro-psych test - which I did a few years ago," Payne told AAP.

"It's a three-hour brain test with a neuro-psychologist. At least I've done it before so they can go back and see how I was previously.

"I need to give my brain a bit of a rest and maybe do it in three weeks. I won't be passed to ride unless I pass these tests."

But Payne said after the first three days when she was heavily concussed she felt she had recovered well.

"I'm quite confident that I'll be able to pass it. It's just whether I want to take the risk again," she said.

"I'm probably leaning towards mainly coming back for a short period of time, like six months, if I did pass, just so I can ride for a bit longer and then retire on my terms.

"Everyone is taking a risk when they go out to ride but I'm in a bit more danger now if I hit my head again because, it's like, how much can it take."

Payne said she had only planned to ride for another year in any case but if she returns this year it would not be for at least two months.

Payne fractured her skull in a race fall in 2004, while a fall early last year left her with fractures in her neck.