KEY POINTS:
Pentane's arrival in Sydney will be a day later than planned after the horse's original flight had to turn back to Auckland.
The top New Zealand stayer left from Auckland late on Wednesday night but the plane returned after about one hour when a smoke alarm went off.
David Cole, the New Zealand manager of International Racehorse Transport, said there had been no fire.
"The alarm was probably triggered by condensation being formed in the aircraft," Cole said.
"When the plane was loaded it was very heavy with rain and when you get to a certain altitude you get a bit of condensation. The sensors are very sensitive."
He was confident the flight would get away last night.
Waikato trainer Lance O'Sullivan said provided there was no further delay, Pentane would take his place in the group one A$2.25 million ($2.58 million) weight-for-age The BMW (2400m) at Rosehill tomorrow.
Pentane, winner of last year's Auckland Cup and runner-up in the same event this month, has the group one A$800,000 Sydney Cup (3200m) at Randwick on April 14 as his main aim.
O'Sullivan said he was sticking with his original plan to fly Pentane back home early next week and head back across the Tasman in the week of the Sydney Cup.
- NZPA
