Toast Of New York, runner-up in the 2014 Breeders’ Cup, enjoyed a winning comeback today (Wednesday, 6 November) after a three-year absence.
The six-year-old, who is trained by Jamie Osborne, was retired with a soft tissue injury in early 2015, following his hard-fought efforts on the dirt in Santa Anita.
In 2014, he was rated among the world’s best horses and on retirement he took up stallion duties in Qatar. He returned to his trainer’s Lambourn yard in April this year to prepare for his surprise return to the racecourse.
“I think everyone involved feels relieved to see Toast Of New York back on a racecourse again and winning,” said Harry Herbert, the racing advisor to owner Al Shaqab Racing.
“This is a phenomenal training performance from Jamie Osborne and Jimmy McCarthy [who rides him at home]. It has been an incredibly patient journey and it is just so exciting,” he said.
“He is an entire horse — he covered 15 or so mares in Doha and got 10 in foal. There wasn’t the support for him as a stallion and the veterinary surgeon told us that the tendon injury he sustained wasn’t that bad.
“It’s not very often that you see an entire horse at his age racing and coming back from over 1,000 days off, so it is a remarkable effort — it really is a fairytale.”
Frankie Dettori partnered the son of Thewayyouare to victory today at Lingfield — despite being decanted on the way to the 10-furlong start.
The pair comfortably fended off their three rivals in the £19,000 Betway Conditions Stakes on the all-weather track at the Surrey racecourse.
“I was very pleased with the way that Toast Of New York used both legs. Jamie has done a great job to get him into this shape first time out and he still feels heavy and rusty,” added Frankie.
“I can’t emphasise how brilliant everyone has been to get him back. He is only a 70% horse at the moment but still won. It was a step forward and I think that we can improve him a lot. After three years off, it was a great effort.”
