Racing: Oscar De La Hoya link to O'Meara's glory days

By MICHAEL GUERIN

Oscar De La Hoya is more than a horse to Brian O'Meara. He is a link to the past.

O'Meara is the man who guided pacing phenomenon Christian Cullen to greatness when they ruled the open class pacing world during the dizzy summer of 1998-99.

Network news spots and front-page newspaper coverage were common for the pair, as Christian Cullen won five group one races in seven weeks.

The equine Adonis with the famous namesake was tailor-made for television and O'Meara was a walking soundbite. Harness racing marketers were in heaven.

Then, just as it was approaching maximum velocity, the Christian Cullen roadshow got speed wobbles. His spectacular summer was followed by a year-long battle with injury before he was finally retired after breaking down in the Victoria Cup in 2000.

But it was not long before Christian Cullen was back in the news as he established himself as one of New Zealand's most exciting young stallions.

This time, though, O'Meara was not along for the ride.

The man who spent almost every day with Christian Cullen during his racing career doesn't see him anymore. He doesn't even have one of Christian Cullen's progeny in his 20-strong team.

And he doesn't talk to the man with whom he owned Christian Cullen, Ian Dobson.

O'Meara and Dobson fell out after O'Meara stood Christian Cullen for his first season at stud.

O'Meara says all he got for doing much of the work on the champion was one free service. "I tell people what I got and they laugh. Nobody believes me," said O'Meara.

O'Meara and Dobson still owned several horses together after Christian Cullen's retirement but once their relationship turned sour they went very separate ways.

"We ended up buying Ian [Dobson] out of Oscar De La Hoya," said O'Meara.

That appeared to have been a good move 18 months ago as Oscar De La Hoya burst onto the scene with stunning wins at Nelson, looking a potential Derby winner.

But soon after the second of those wins Oscar De La Hoya, who is Christian Cullen's half-brother, was injured.

"He banged a tendon in his front leg when he was in Nelson and ended up spending most of the next 10 months in a box."

Oscar De La Hoya has slowly returned to worthwhile form following the lengthy break, but O'Meara likens him to a top rugby player getting over an injury.

"Just like a rugby player it has taken him a long time to get really hard, mentally and physically, after his comeback," he said.

Oscar De La Hoya was impressive winning at Addington two starts ago but looked slightly disappointing last start, which O'Meara blamed on the snow.

"We had a shocking week and my track was frozen hard so he was a bit short of fitness for his latest run. I think he will be fitter this week and he will be harder to beat."

Oscar De La Hoya faces a second line draw and some in-form opponents in tonight's standing start sixth race, but O'Meara believes he still has his trademark confidence.

"He is a good stayer and will keep getting better. But, okay, he is no Christian Cullen."

Then again, a Christian Cullen comes along once in a lifetime and O'Meara has adjusted to life out of the spotlight.

"I want to get to the stage where I train six to 10 horses, aiming for quality, not quantity."