Peter Moody has confirmed his plans to return to the Victorian training ranks with a boutique stable at Pakenham.
Moody said he had not yet got a licence and he would have preferred to keep his plans to himself but recent speculation had forced his hand.
The trainer of many Group One winners, led by the unbeaten Black Caviar, stepped away from training in 2016 after being handed a six-month suspension to unintentionally administering excessive levels of cobalt to the horse Lidari.
He is at the Karaka yearling sale in Auckland buying horses primarily for established clients to go to other trainers.
“It wasn’t a secret. I would have just preferred to have got all my ducks in a row before announcing it,” Moody told broadcaster racing.com.
“One having a stable firmed up, two having a training track to train on and three actually having a licence.
“I’m all at the behest of Racing Victoria, the Pakenham Racing Club and my family.
“I’ll make an application to initially train from my property in South Belgrave where we can house 10 to 12 horses with a view to having a Pakenham training complex signed, sealed and delivered which will be hopefully up and running around April or May.”
Moody said he was not planning to build to the numbers he had at the height of his powers when he won four Melbourne premierships.
“It will be on a much, much smaller scale than before,” he said.
“I’m looking at mainly training my own horses and a few for clients who’ve been there since the day I basically started.”