Michelle Payne was five when she watched her brother Patrick ride in the Melbourne Cup, deciding then and there she would go one better.

"I thought that's what I'm going to do and I'm going to win the Melbourne Cup," Payne said.

She did just that aboard long shot Prince of Penzance on Tuesday, becoming the first female jockey to win the Melbourne Cup.

The youngest of 10 children, seven of whom became jockeys, Payne says her family means everything to her.

"Every one of them has helped me along the way," the 30-year-old said on Wednesday.

"They're not always the nicest but that's good because they say exactly what they think and they're critical only to help you.

"It's so awesome to be part of a big family and I'm just so lucky to be the one that won the Melbourne Cup."

Payne has closely watched and learned from her jockey siblings: Patrick and Andrew (both now trainers), Therese, Maree, Bernadette, Cathy and the late Brigid.

Her sister Margaret didn't follow them into the racing business but brother Stevie, who has Down syndrome, is employed by Ballarat trainer Darren Weir and acted as Prince of Penzance's strapper on Cup day.

Payne credits her older sisters for being trailblazers who helped ease her way into the male-dominated sport.

"When I began riding it made it so much easier for me to get rides because they had paved the way and they were always so respectable.

"I think we have to thank our dad for that because he instilled into us you had to be polite and you had to be grateful and humble."

Payne never got the chance to know her mum, who died in a car accident when she was six months old.

"I think she's with me all the time. I believe she rode with me yesterday."

Her family tried to convince her to give up riding after a March 2004 fall that left her with a fractured skull and bruising to her brain.

In 2012 she broke four vertebrae and several ribs in another fall but Payne says she has always maintained a positive attitude, something she says she gets from her father Paddy.

"I think my dad's probably the main one to thank out of all of this because even though he lost my mum when I was a baby he carried on and his motto is when everything's going bad there's always something good around the corner.

"I've always lived by that."

Paddy, who held a training licence until this season, watched the Cup with a cup of tea in hand from his home in Ballarat.

"I thought that the girls would win a Melbourne Cup as time went on but I didn't think it would be one of mine," he said.

"She's a good girl. She works hard and she's kind and she's a generous sort of thing."

Payne is relentless, never giving up on chasing rides despite many knock-backs.

"I've got a never say die attitude.

"Just keep trying and eventually the tables will turn your way if you keep showing up and keep trying."