UAE Derby winner Toast Of New York will not run in the Investec Derby on June 7. Pic: Courtesy Epsom Downs.

By Simon Jackson.

Jamie Osborne today ruled Toast Of New York out of the Investec Derby in favour of a $1.25million contest at Belmont racetrack in New York in July.

Owner Michael Buckley had earlier paid an £8,000 supplementary entry for the Epsom Classic on June 7 after his colt landed the UAE Derby at Meydan in March.

But the prospect of rain in the week leading up to the Investec Derby has led to a change of plan. The son of Thewayyouare will now travel to the United States to contest the Belmont Derby Invitational on July 5.

“We have ruled out Epsom,” Osborne said. “We took the decision this morning to give it a miss in favour of going to Belmont in July.

“There was always a bit of a doubt at the back of our minds about him getting a mile and a half at this stage of his career and we felt his best chance of staying was if the ground was quite quick. However, that looks highly unlikely now.

“There is a race at Belmont over a mile and a quarter on the turf that is worth $1.25million and we don’t really want to waste a run in a race where we would be a 25-1 outsider. We want to point at targets which he has a real chance of winning.

“The Derby can be a bit of a graveyard for some horses and I don’t want to end up there with him.

“It has been a tough decision for Michael Buckley and myself. To have a runner in the Derby would be a dream, but we don’t want to just have runners, we want to have winners in the big races.

“If we look after him and campaign him sensibly, there’s no reason why he couldn’t turn into a top-class globe-trotting runner next year. He could potentially be one of the top international money-earners if we look after him.

“Horses like him don’t come along often.”

Read ‘Horse Talk with Simon Jackson’ at London24 for the latest horse racing news.