Toast has Dubai World Cup target The Dubai World Cup is almost certain to be Toast Of New York's next port of call following his heartbreaking defeat in Saturday's Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita. Exactly a year on from winning a novice race at Wolverhampton, Jamie Osborne's pride and joy came agonisingly close to glory in the $5million Classic in California, going down by a nose to Bayern in a race that will live long in the memory. The UAE Derby winner proved that he not only handled the dirt surface that has so often been a big obstacle for Europeans to overcome, but he actually excelled, meaning the world's richest race at Meydan in March remains top of the agenda. Osborne said: "Toast is on the flight on the way home as we speak and I'll be following him home later on. "He was a bit tired the next day, as we expected, but I'm sure he'll bounce back pretty quickly as he always does. He knows the drill now. "It's a bit strange as I don't really know what to feel at the moment. I don't know whether to be very happy or very sad. "I'm obviously delighted with how the horse has performed. We know the horse inside out now and we had a feeling going in that natural improvement had occurred and we were pretty sure he was a better horse than he was in the spring. "I'm immensely proud of the horse and it's just a shame he's missed out by a few inches of being a Breeders' Cup Classic winner. "He has proved himself highly effective on dirt. It was always a bit of a guessing game and our guess was proved right. "I think we can be fairly sure his next start will be in Meydan. That gives us five months to bring him down and build him back up again, which is plenty of time." While the trip to Dubai is virtually set in stone and another tilt at the Breeders' Cup Classic is almost certain barring injury, the rest of Toast Of New York's 2015 campaign remains up for discussion. It appears unlikely British racegoers will get to see him in competitive action, although Osborne has mentioned Sandown's Coral-Eclipse as a possible option. "If all goes well and we can keep him sound, the obvious thing to do would be to top and tail his season for the next couple of years with the World Cup and the Breeders' Cup Classic. It's just the middle bit that will take a bit of thought," said the trainer. "He's shown he's versatile regarding surfaces. He goes on the dirt and the Polytrack, and I don't see why he wouldn't go on the grass. He's unproven on it at this stage, but I'd be pretty confident he would handle it and I just think he's one of those extremely rare horses who can handle everything. "I think he'll just have three or four runs a year and we'll pick and choose our route carefully. There's no point shooting from outside of the box. We might as well get as close to the goal line as we can. I'm not sure he will run in Britain. Where would you go? I suppose the Coral-Eclipse would not be impossible. We would have to think about it." The other big question mark surrounding the next chapter of the extraordinary story is who will be on board Toast Of New York next year, with regular rider Jamie Spencer set to quit the saddle in the coming weeks. The likes of Richard Hughes and Adam Kirby have been mentioned as potential riders, with the latter the man who steered the three-year-old to the aforementioned Wolverhampton success, but Osborne is not fretting over the decision. "Who will be riding him is the least of my worries at this stage and that's something we'll look at nearer the time. Jamie obviously knows the horse very well now and someone else will need to get to know him, but he's not a complicated horse," said Osborne. "The ride Jamie gave him the other day was very similar to the one he gave him in the UAE Derby earlier in the year. He got a lead from one horse, but unfortunately Bayern was a tough horse to pass on Saturday. "There are plenty of good jockeys out there and I don't think we're going to have to beg them to ride him. At the moment I'm just thinking about trying to keep him where he is, but I suppose it is not completely ridiculous to think he could be a better horse as a four-year-old."
