Payne admitted on Friday that women in the riding ranks around Australia have come a long way since she made her debut as a 15-year-old in 2000.

"Sure we have made an impact, but we've still got a fair way to go but fortunately the people that matter – trainers and owners – view us differently today than they did all those years ago."

For Payne it's been a hard, steady grind into the upper echelon of jockeys in Victoria.  She believes that she was fortunate when she was starting her career, that she had the support of her family and the reputation of being well prepared for a career in the saddle.

Even then owners and trainers would swerve away from booking a woman , an attitude that has changed radically in recent years. This weekend 18 female jockeys will compete in race meetings across the state, a point not lost on Payne.

"I was lucky when I was starting I had the name Payne to lean on. I had four sisters before me that had ridden and ridden well so owners were prepared to take the risk on me,'' she said.

"But now female jockeys have come so far. Don't get me wrong, we've still got a long way to go but it's important that we are accepted and can compete with the boys.

"I think racing people now understand that it's not all about strength. It's about tactics and technique, it's not about being the strongest and the toughest and you only have to look at the likes of Craig Williams and Glen Boss, the way they have developed a riding technique that's not all about powerfully strong whip riding."

Turning 29 in September, Payne believes that her 17 city winners this season  are not reflective of how she's moulded her career over the past year. There is  riding work at Caulfield for Ciaron Maher and Andrew Noblet as well rides for her brothers Andrew and Patrick. Trainer Darren Weir often calls on her to ride in jump outs and trials for his vast teams at Ballarat and Warrnambool.

"And it's a good relationship because I get rides in return from Darren and really those five stables are where I derive all of my riding income,'' Payne said. "It suits me to knock back the occasional outside mount to concentrate on the rides I'm having for my regular stables.

"Travelling is not a concern and often Darren will have trials at Burrumbeet, Camperdown and all those places in the western districts where he can use the facilities to trial his team."

While encouraged by the amount of female apprentices coming through  Payne believes the transitional time between apprenticeship and senior rider status is the toughest feature for young riders of both genders.

"Once you lose that allowance you lose that edge on the more experienced people and it's very hard often to stay competitive,'' she said.

On Saturday, Payne will have six rides at a meeting that will give away  more than a million dollars in prizemoney and is known as one of the most important flat race meetings during the winter period.

Her first important engagement will be the imported stayer Marksmanship, a dominant last start winner at Caulfield, who will start in the Banjo Patterson Stayers Series Final.

"He is a very nice horse, he's very much typical of a European stayer,'' Payne said. "He has that wonderfully high cruising speed and last week at Caulfield he managed to race on the speed and still keep coming while everything dropped off.

"He's drawn well, he's actually in the perfect position to use his good turn of foot and I don't think having his first crack at 2600 metres will be a problem. But having said that he's still got to run the 2600 and of course that's always in the back of your mind."

Payne will also be aboard the exciting Akavoroun in the $152,000 Winter Championship Final. Payne believes Akavoroun, like Marksmanship, has a promising career but hopes that the track condition at Flemington will remain firm.

"He's really excelled in just a few starts to date,'' she said. "I like the way he's very professional, but while he's been very good this time in I think he just manages through ability to get through wet conditions and is, I think, better suited on top of the ground."