Kiwi rider Michelle Payne is working to write another history-making Melbourne Cup chapter, by becoming the first jockey-trainer to win Australia's iconic horse race before she retires.
Payne, who hails from a famed Taranaki racing family, will head overseas to try and find her Melbourne Cup winner.
"My main planis to head to Europe in June or July to find a horse for the Melbourne Cup," she said at her Ballarat stables.
"The plan is to ride and train it myself. It couldn't get any more special than that.
"You've got to dream big and that's what I'm doing."
"I was just cruising along mid-year and getting ready for a big trip to Europe, and it was a life-changing experience," she told the Herald Sun in October.
"Having that fall in May, where I had to have abdominal surgery, it could have been life-threatening. It taught me to really enjoy life and to make the most of it while you can."
Payne confirmed she could have as few as 12 months left in the saddle.
"It's not too far away," she said. "It's a very dangerous sport and I've had my fair share of falls.
"I don't want to push my luck. Having said that, you've got to live your life doing what you love."
But before she calls it quits as a rider, Payne wants to add another Melbourne Cup to her victory on Prince Of Penzance in 2015, but this time with her name also in the race book as trainer.
The dual jockey-trainer licence was introduced by Racing Victoria only in August and Payne quickly took up the running.
She became the first rider-trainer to salute, when she rode Duke Of Nottingham to win at Swan Hill last month.
Payne said she had been approached by several people about buying an international horse for the 2017 Melbourne Cup. These included Australian Thoroughbred Bloodstock's Darren and Liz Dance, who purchased this year's Cup runner-up Heartbreak City from Ireland.
Payne said she was "very keen on German and French horses", as they had been successful in recent Cups and had superior breeding.
