РУСФОРУМ АВСТРАЛИЯ

The Payne family were desperately poor when growing up on a farm on the outskirts of Ballarat in the late 1980s, and Michelle and Steven were always knocking about together as kids.

While the older children rode ponies and then racehorses, the two of them used to play in the dirt, forging a tight bond following the tragic loss of their mother when both were still young.

Michelle said Steven had challenged some of the stigma that surrounds Down Syndrome.

“I think it’s great for other people with Down Syndrome — to see how capable they can be in normal life,” she said.

“Stevie can pretty much do anything, and look after himself when he’s on his own.”

Steven received a massive roar from the Flemington crowd after giving a brief but uplifting speech when accepting the Tommy Woodcock Trophy as the winning strapper.

“Thank you very much, everybody,” he said. “To all of the crowd today at the races. I hope you have a great night. Thank you very much.”

Никто не ожидал такого от аутсайдера.

Седня по радио слышала, что ведущая, проводившая интервью с этой девушкой, поставила на ее лошадь 500 баксов, чтобы поддержать.

Неплохо, если учесть, что оддс было 1:101