Michelle Payne to replenish her Ballarat stable after partnership with First Light Racing ceases

Melbourne Cup winner Michelle Payne will be busy at the yearling sales to replenish her stable after she separated with a major syndication operator.

Melbourne Cup-winning jockey Michelle Payne at her farm near Ballarat.

Michelle Payne is excited by the challenge of replenishing her boutique Ballarat stable after she terminated her relationship with leading syndicators First Light Racing.

The dual licenced jockey-trainer looks to lose 15 horses, including good prizemoney earners, Flag Edition, Cape Victory and Prince Of Celebes, in the separation.

Payne will be active in the peak buying season, starting at the Gold Coast Magic Millions yearling sales in January, to fill the empty boxes at her picturesque Nottingham Farm.

Trainer Michelle Payne still holds her licence as a jockey.

“I’ve been going to the sales since I was a little girl with my dad (Paddy),” Payne said.

“It’s a part of the process that’s exciting because you pick them out from a baby and then you get to watch them grow and mature from home.

“Definitely the passion is still there, we will look to rebuild. Unfortunately these things happen, you have to stick strong to what you believe.”

“At the start of my training career I bought a really nice filly at Magic Millions, Sweet Rockette, she was recently sold for a lot of money ($385,000), so I‘d love to head back up there (Gold Coast) and try our luck.

Payne at a First Light Racing lunch at Southgate in 2017.

“I’ve got some nice horses still in training and a couple nice ones coming in the future, a couple of babies lined up for my current owners, which is really exciting.”

Unraced Frankel colt Serlik, a $500,000 Inglis yearling bought by Iranian soccer sensation Sardar Azmoun, is among the prized juveniles.

Payne considered racing Serlik in the spring but elected for a more conservative route.

“I love him, he‘s a really nice horse, still a colt and great to work with.” Payne said.

“Hopefully the future is bright with him.”

Payne said “disagreements” with the management of horses led to her decision to split with FLR.

“We have some really nice horses and some fantastic owners I loved training for, which was really hard, but it was the only way in the end, unfortunately,” Payne said.

“I got into training to really enjoy it, I love training the horses for my owners and it is now my passion but we just had some disagreements. It didn’t sit well with me, I felt we had to go separate ways in the end.”

Payne will saddle up and ride Mark The Horse at Warrnambool on Thursday.

Originally published as Michelle Payne to replenish her Ballarat stable after partnership with First Light Racing ceases