Jamie Osborne, trainer of U.A.E. Derby winner Toast of New York, has revealed
the colt will be bypassing the May 3 Kentucky Derby and instead point for the
June 7 Epsom Derby, for which he was supplemented for
£8,000 on Tuesday.
“There is nothing wrong with the horse, we are very satisfied with how he
came back from Dubai,” Osborne told PA Sport. “We just felt piling him on a
plane again so soon to take him to another continent and tackle another
different surface would be a lot to ask. To put him in the Epsom Derby at this
stage costs £8,000 and to add him at the
next stage would be £75,000. It is by no
means a certain plan he will run there, but it makes sense to keep our options
open.”
Toast of New York guaranteed himself a spot in the Kentucky Derby starting
gate by winning the March 29 U.A.E. Derby at Meydan, for which he earned 100
points in the Road to the Kentucky Derby series.
Osborne said a prep for the 1 1/2-mile classic at Epsom is unlikely.
“Fitness-wise he doesn’t need a prep run,” the conditioner said.
“Experience-wise it could be a help, but a race like the Dante Stakes (at York)
is only three weeks before Epsom, and could you leave your Derby at the Dante?
If he does go to Epsom I’m pretty sure he’ll go straight there.”
The 2015 Dubai World Cup is a long-term target for Toast of New York.
“We hope he is a horse with a great future and longer term his aim has to be
next year’s Dubai World Cup,” Osborne said. “I think that can be carved in stone
and it is just a case of thinking about what route we take between now and next
March.”
Bet Horseracing Free Online at TwinSpires.com