OSCAR SCHINDLER'S owner returned home yesterday ruing the decision to miss the Breeders' Cup in favour of a failed Melbourne Cup campaign that is set to cost him up to £70,000.
Oliver Lehane flew back from Australia to concede that he and trainer Kevin Prendergast took the wrong option and ought to have carried out proper research into what conditions they could expect.
Encouraged by his third placing, following an unlucky passage, in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and a weight of 8st 12lb, Lehane bowed to his trainer and jockey Michael Kinane to embark on the venture down under.
But though starting the 4 to 1 favourite, Oscar Schindler trailed in 15th and finished the race jarred up by the firm ground. To add to the disappointment the Breeders Cup' Turf, his alternative target, fell to Pilsudski, who had finished just a short neck ahead of Oscar Schindler in Paris.
"As you know I never wanted to go in the first place. I'm not saying he would have won the Breeders' Cup Turf but he would have gone very close," Lehane reflected.
"The facilities in Australia were not what we were led to believe. The horse had to work on grass. There was no all-weather, no sand ring and no swimming pool.
"He never works on grass at home. From May to October he is either on the all-weather or swimming. I thought these facilities would be available but obviously we didn't delve enough. I'm sure if we'd asked Dermot Weld he would have beep able to tell us."
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