Tom Payten and his son Bayley formed a training dynasty in Sydney that endured for almost 70 years.
In 1876 Tom Payten began work for Michael Fennelly who trained for James White, at that time the most important thoroughbred owner in the Australian colonies. When Fennelly died in 1887, Payten was appointed White's personal trainer. In the following four years, Payten trained the winners of 77 major races, including four Derbies, three Oaks, seven St Legers, and six Sires Produce Stakes. At the 1888 VRC Autumn Carnival, Payten's horsed won nine races, among them the Newmarket Handicap, Australian Cup and Champion Stakes.
Tom Payten continued to train with great success until the First World War. To the end he maintained his reputation as Australia's greatest trainer of young horses, as seen in his winning list of nine Derbies, six Oaks, nine St Legers, 12 Sires Produce Stakes, and nine Debutant Stakes. But he also trained the winners of six Australian Cups, three Sydney Cups, two Epsom Handicaps, and the Caulfield Cup. He was the first Australian to train the winners of 200 feature races.
Payten was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2006.
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