David Payne will be back where it all began at his adopted home, Rosehill, when Reagan and Toulouse make their racing debuts.
South Africa-born Payne focused on two-year-olds when he first moved to Sydney in 2002 and newcomers will be his priority on Saturday when the colts line up in the 2YO Plate (1100m).
“Australia focuses a lot on the two-year-olds, so when I got here we trained a lot them,” Payne said.
“I think we won about 17 or 18 juvenile races the first couple of years I was here.”
Payne also has a reputation with staying types most recently with this month’s Victoria Derby winner Ace High but has a good record with youngsters.
He has won the Group Two Todman Stakes (1200m) twice with Masquerader in 2010 and Criterion (2013) and the Group Three Black Opal (1200m) with Uber (2004) and Criterion.
Hurried Choice (2006) and Defiant Dame (2010) claimed the Listed Gimcrack Stakes (1000m).
Payne would not speculate on Reagan and Toulouse developing into horses of that calibre.
“They’re both promising juveniles so I’ll give them a run before the end of the year just to see what we’ve got,” he said.
“They’ve got potential. They’re nice horses for later on and they’ll be better three-year-olds.”
Payne said the Magic Millions Classic meeting at the Gold Coast in January would come too soon but the Group One Golden Slipper (1200m) on March 24 was a possible target.
