Michelle Payne is set to head to the US to ride at Santa Anita Park's famous Breeders' Cup meeting.Provided she returns to full fitness following a horrific fall in May, Payne is likely to partner Group One winner Azkadellia in the Breeders' Cup Turf for fillies and mares in November.While the Ciaron Maher-trained mare isn't a definite Breeders' Cup starter, connections are keen to head there if she performs well in her early spring assignments.Azkadellia's owner Ben Connolly is tipping Payne will make a successful comeback and said the Breeders' Cup is a "window of opportunity" for her to work towards.

“All I am saying is rather than closing doors on her, I am opening a window of opportunity for her if she can get herself back to her best," Connolly told the Herald Sun.

“I didn’t make the decision lightly. I have heard some believe she should retire, but I have been heartened by the views of Michelle Payne’s medical advisers who have cleared her to commence riding as soon as the next three weeks."

The news comes just days after the Melbourne Cup-winning jockey lost the ride on Prince Of Penzance for the gelding's early spring targets.



Payne tore her liver and split her pancreas in two in the Mildura fall and only recently returned to riding trackwork.