Retirement looms for Cup winner

October 9, 2016 6:30 pm.by AAP

Prince of Penzance Melbourne Cup betting — Prince of Penzance’s injury might spell the end. Michelle Payne is pictured winning the Melbourne Cup onboard the Darren Weir-trained stayer.

Melbourne Cup winner Prince Of Penzance may have run his last race with the seven-year-old to undergo surgery on an injured leg.

Prince Of Penzance will have three screws inserted on Monday to stabilise a fracture in his off foreleg suffered in Saturday’s Herbert Power Stakes at Caulfield.

The gelding’s unlikely win in the 2015 Melbourne Cup as a 100-1 chance catapulted his rider Michelle Payne to worldwide headlines as the first female jockey to claim Australia’s most famous race.

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His owners will wait until after the surgery to make any decision on his future but it appears a return to the track is unlikely.

Sandy McGregor, one of the group that owns Prince Of Penzance, told Racing Victoria’s media arm, racing.com, it seemed unlikely the gelding would race again.

“He’s done his job so the main thing is that he has a long and happy life,” McGregor said.

McGregor said one option when he recovered would be for Prince Of Penzance to live out his retirement at Payne’s farm at Ballarat.