John Thompson's modest first-up expectations for Auvray are not a true guide to the trainer's regard for the stayer.

Earning a reputation as a highly strung horse, Auvray is tipped to be a model of composure when he finally steps out for Thompson in the Randwick City Stakes on Saturday.

Auvray comes from France as a Group Two winner and rated a superior racehorse to Orbec, another French import who finished among last year's Wyong Gold Cup and Newcastle Gold Cup placings during his first term for Thompson.

But it has been anything but a smooth start for his new trainer with Auvray scratched at the barrier before a rich Singapore race.

His antics didn't improve on Australian soil and now Auvray is a much different horse from the one which landed here last year.

"They gelded him and now he is really good," Thompson said of the China Horse Club syndicate's decision to sacrifice Auvray's manhood for respectability on the racetrack.

Thompson has sent Auvray straight to a middle-distance race at Randwick, but he says it's unlikely to make the five-year-old competitive.

"He's a good stayer but needs more ground," Thompson said.

"Two thousand metres will be too short for him but once he gets to the Sydney Cup distance he'll go well, especially if it's wet."

Auvray is a $26 chance for the Sydney Cup and despite Thompson's caution about the horse's Randwick Guineas day chances, the stayer has been specked from $51 to $35.