KEY POINTS:
Former outstanding jockey Patrick Payne made a low-key start to his training career yesterday when he saddled up Lady Olive in a maiden plate at Kilmore.
The 4-year-old mare was favourite when ridden by international jockey Kerrin McEvoy into third placing. Payne admitted: "She's very limited."
Payne, 32, said he would start with up to 20 horses, mainly unraced 2- and 3-year-olds.
"I'm just going to keep it a small, family-run business," he said.
"For the last four or five years I've known I've been going to retire from riding so I've set up a training property at Rockbank."
Payne said he had been working closely with his sister Therese, who trains on the property west of Melbourne.
"I've basically been helping Therese, who has three children and is thinking of moving back to Ballarat, so I'll just take over the reins here."
Payne said he would also continue his business of exporting horses to Hong Kong, Macau and Singapore.
One of the horses he sold to Hong Kong, High Point, won at the International meeting at Sha Tin on Sunday.
High Point raced as De Beaumont when trained by Therese Payne and won his only Australian start at Werribee before being sold.
Payne is currently working with young horses by Cape Cross, O'Reilly and Desert Prince.
"We have some nice young horses we intend to sell overseas," Payne said, "but with this EI [equine influenza] we can't export them at the moment."
- AAP
