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High-profile racing women dug deep to make Payne film a winner


Katie Page and Gai Waterhouse were among the silent backers determined to
turn Michelle Payne bio-pic Ride Like A Girl into a hit movie

Annette Sharp, Sydney Confidential, The Sunday Telegraph

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High-profile women in horseracing - and keen to promote an Australian legend
and women in sport - are among the silent backers of popular new Australian
feature film, Ride Like A Girl. Businesswoman Katie Page, the CEO of Harvey
Norman, co-founder of yearling sales Magic Millions and wife of Gerry Harvey
said she couldn't think of a better place to put her money than into a
locally made film that would help make a legend of Melbourne Cup-winning
jockey Michelle Payne.

"What an extraordinary movie and an extraordinary story," she said,
confirming she was quick to join a syndicate of silent backers who tipped
money into the project after filmmaker and actor Rachel Griffiths and her
co-producers started passing the cap around after acquiring the rights to
Payne's book following Payne's historic Melbourne Cup victory on Pirates Of
Penzance in 2015.

 

Teresa Palmer as Michelle Payne in a scene from Ride Like A Girl.

Page is dedicated to promoting women in sport and in racing and created a
sponsorship program that set aside 10 $5000 sponsorships for women's
sporting clubs.

Another racing pioneer said to have opened her private chequebook to ensure
Michelle Payne's is Australian Turf Club vice-chair Julia Ritchie.

Owner and trainer Ritchie was the first female board member on the AJC board
and her appointment to the ATC chair in 2014 shook the foundations of the
male-dominated club when she was voted in.

Ritchie, the daughter of trainer Bill Ritchie of Bangaloe Stud and owner of
Golden Slipper winner Vancouver, may have been playing coy about her
investment yesterday and couldn't be reached for comment.

Harvey Norman CEO Katie Page has seen the movie twice.

Ritchie's love of film stretches back through the years to when she worked
in the film industry which is where she met Griffiths who still calls
Ritchie a close friend.

Another outspoken supporter of the film is Australian trainer Gai
Waterhouse.

Waterhouse, who attended a glamorous preview of the film at the Orpheum
Theatre two weeks ago with a group of eight including husband Robbie, son
Tom and jockey Hugh Bowman, said she too has a keen interest in the film.

"A couple of my strappers are in the movie," she said on Friday, confirming
she is behind the project and behind Payne, who has ridden for her.

"I think they needed quite a lot of extras for it, so my strappers pitched
in to lend a hand."

Payne too is affiliated with the Waterhouses through racing - and Robbie
Waterhouse has the sense Gai may have given Payne some excellent advice
about how to win during the women's work together.

 

Trainer Gai Waterhouse. Picture: AAP

Vice-chair of the ATC Julia Ritchie.

"Gai told her to get low in the saddle," said Robbie, advice that might have
helped her bring home the Cup in 2015.

"Michelle has been one of my jockeys on a number of occasions," said Gai.
"She rode for me. How can you not love this story - it's a wonderful story."

Waterhouse proclaimed the racing scenes in Ride Like A Girl to be "second to
none" - high praise from the Tulloch Lodge trainer, regarded as the leading
female force in the game.

"A good film leaves you with a good feeling and this certainly did," she
said.

Page said she'd seen the movie twice and had left crying both times.

"I cry every time I see it and when I saw it, on both occasions, when
Michelle Payne's character crosses the line everyone in the cinema got up on
their feet and cheered. It's just so moving. 
Even Gerry was moved. And you know Gerry." she added, an eye-roll implied.

Producers were looking to raise $5 million from the private sector to get
the low-budget feature made.

Ride LIke A Girl director Rachel Griffiths. Picture: Getty

Further funding came from Screen Australia via its Gender Matters: Brilliant
Stories program, an initiative which gets behind women's stories and women
working in the industry. To win the private backing of women in business,
was an added coup.

Griffiths and producer Susie Montague are also believed to have invested in
the movie.

At this stage it looks to have been money well spent, with Ride Like A Girl
on its way to becoming the highest grossing Australian film of the year,
with almost $3 million taken at the box office last week.

 

racing at ausrace.com

 

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