Michelle Payne has officially taken over the training of former Italian galloper Kaspersky.
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His English-based trainer Jane Chapple-Hyam had originally planned to hand over the care of Kaspersky at the end of the spring.
Ballarat-based Payne has immediately sent the import for a spell.
She believes he needs time to acclimatise and will return in the spring.
Payne was set to ride Kaspersky in the Cox Plate on Saturday, but he was scratched on the morning of the race.
Chapple-Hyam and Payne teamed to source Kaspersky after meeting early this year.
Payne expressed her desire to find a Melbourne Cup candidate.
"Originally we looked for a Melbourne Cup horse, but the price tag on those sort of horses is extremely high," Chapple-Hyam said.
"So I said to Michelle, 'I can find you a miler that might be in the price range'.
"We found this fellow in Pisa, Italy. He's a stunning individual and I just thought if we could get a bit of improvement in him he might measure up, and he has raced well in England,” she said.
"Cup horses are just too expensive as they are $800,000-plus.
“There is such a competitive market for them.”