Champion trainer David Hayes will put two-year-old Tycoon Dancer away for a spell with a view to the spring carnival after the colt made a winning start to his career at Caulfield.

Tycoon Dancer stepped out in Saturday’s Chef’s Hat Plate (1100m) and despite a betting drift from $2.90 to $5 proved too classy in defeating the race experienced Easy Beast ($4.60) by a half length.

“I think he’s a really exciting horse,” Hayes said.

“Of my colt winners this year he’d be nearly my favourite.”

Hayes has prepared a host of juvenile winners this season, headed by a string of classy fillies including Blue Diamond Stakes winner Catchy.

Tycoon Dancer was bought for $100,000 as a yearling and his victory in Saturday’s $100,000 race plus the VOBIS bonus on offer has gone a long way to recouping the outlay.

And Hayes is convinced the best is to come next season.

“He’s really not a two-year-old type,” Hayes said.

“He’s a leggy horse who I think will come back a really good three-year-old.

“We’ll definitely put him aside now. He just had the one trial going into this and was very impressive at Geelong.

“There’s a lot of signs that he will train on at three.”

The stable made it a race-to-race double to start the Caulfield meeting with Shaf scoring a narrow victory in the Arvantis Philanthropy Plate (1100m).

By Mathew Toogood

MELBOURNE, May 13 AAP