Michelle and Patrick Payne chasing maiden Group 1 win together in Toorak Handicap

The race in which Michelle Payne notched her first Group 1 win as a jockey could also provide her maiden Group 1 triumph as a trainer on Saturday.

The Toorak Handicap will always be a special race to Michelle Payne, even if her charge Jimmy The Bear is unsuccessful in Saturday’s edition of the Caulfield feature.

The 2009 Toorak Handicap was Payne’s maiden Group 1 triumph as a jockey with the fact she rode Allez Wonder for the late master trainer Bart Cummings adding to the thrill.

• Early Oil: Caulfield Guineas day tips

Allez Wonder started as a $41 chance despite having the benefit of the famous Cummings’ polish but managed to overcome a forced change of plans at the start.

“It was a dream come true,” Payne said.

“When the barriers opened, I had to ride the race without following Bart’s instructions because she began so well and got into a rhythm.

“His instructions were to ride her back and come around the field but I landed in the first half of the field, one off the fence, and I had to ride her for luck.

“She burst through and won the race with a tight gap on the inside.”

Training legend Bart Cummings gave Michelle Payne her first Group 1 win and Melbourne Cup ride aboard Allez Wonder.

Without winning the Toorak on Allez Wonder, Payne said her life-changing Melbourne Cup triumph on Prince Of Penzance might not have happened.

Cummings stuck with Payne after Toorak Handicap success, giving her the Caulfield and Melbourne Cup ride on the mare, an experience that later proved invaluable.

Payne said she might have become the first woman to win a Melbourne Cup after years before achieving the feat on Prince Of Penzance in 2015 had Allez Wonder stayed the 3200m distance.

• King summons Maher for Water boarding

“I think it definitely had something to do with it because not having had a ride in the Melbourne Cup before Prince Of Penzance, that might have actually made them sway to put on another jockey in the race,” Payne said.

“The way she was travelling at the 600m, I thought she was going to be a chance because she was travelling so well.

“I think that’s what is so great about the Melbourne Cup is that it find out whether you are a true stayer or not and at the 300m, she couldn’t go on with it.

“She was primed for the day and you could just feel how well trained she was. It was remarkable how he just knew how to get them right.”

Jimmy The Bear will attempt to become Michelle Payne’s first Group 1 winner as a trainer in the Toorak Handicap at Caulfield. Picture: Racing Photos via Getty Images

Payne and her brother, former star jockey Patrick, have embarked on a training partnership this season with solid results.

Jimmy The Bear has quickly become of Payne’s favourites with his consistency and honest performances endearing him to her.

The six-year-old rarely runs a bad race but Payne said Jimmy The Bear was unlucky not to have placed at weight-for-age when finishing on the heels of Gentleman Roy and Pinstriped in the Group 2 Lawrence Stakes in August.

She said Jimmy The Bear could outperform his $31 quote if he reproduced that effort.

“We just love him,” Payne said.

“He’s earned so much respect over the years, just with his consistency and the fact that he gives his all.

“I think, probably his run a few starts back in the Group 2, where he was really hampered quite badly all the way up the straight and was still trying all the way to the line, was great.

“If he puts his best foot forward like that, he brings himself in with a sneaky lightweight chance.”

Originally published as Michelle and Patrick Payne chasing maiden Group 1 win together in Toorak Handicap